Chapter 317

Wang Lin's mouth twitched slightly; his daughter‑in‑law dreamed of her older brother, which he considered a good omen, and, in his conjecture, the brother and sister in the dream should recount the sorrow of parting.

As the saying goes: what one thinks of by day, one dreams of by night!

I never thought of it…

His daughter‑in‑law would utter these words; she dreamed of her older brother but did not describe any parting in the dream, yet she still said this.

He doesn't even know how his daughter‑in‑law could have such a dream.

A flash of insight flickered in Wang Lin's mind, recalling the Scholar's past affairs, and, thoughtful, he said, "Old lady, did you think of the Scholar's past before you fell asleep?"

Zhang Guihua, puzzled, said, "Old man, why are you asking this?"

"Old lady, I know you can't bear to let go of your older brother, you don't want to accept that he just left!"

Wang Lin let out a slight sigh.

Although.

Indeed, there is the Scholar's past, and it has even been verified: the Scholar's father is now the Land God of Hutou Gou, and after the Scholar's mother died, misfortune turned to blessing with the Scholar's father's assistance.

He became the Land Grandmother!

Not only in Hutou Gou, but even in the surrounding areas, countless families envy the Scholar.

Don't think the Land God and Land Grandmother are insignificant deities; after all, they are still divine spirits. Don't treat bean buns as just dry rations; you have no idea how many people desire to become them yet cannot.

The overwhelming majority of families envy the Scholar's household for having divine protection; when the Scholar and his wife grow old, perhaps they will inherit their parents' roles as Land God and Land Grandmother, and their parents will return to the Underworld to report.

Even if they cannot eat imperial rations in the Underworld, at least in the next life they can be born into a good family.

Those who are already old are envious; the Scholar's father, in his old age, managed to become a Land God. Not only that, but whether they can even be reborn as humans in the next life is uncertain.

Zhang Guihua was not foolish; she could not have failed to catch Wang Lin's meaning from his tone, and, angry, said, "Wang Lin, what do you mean? Do you not believe what I said?"

"Guihua, it's not that I don't believe you!"

Wang Lin gave a wry smile; over the years he had taken part in many funerals and seen one elderly person after another. When these elders approached death, each imagined the Scholar's father's fate happening to themselves, and he explained:

"The Scholar's father could become our village's Land God not only because a vacancy happened to arise, but also because he himself was a scholar by origin and possessed Merit, thus qualifying him to be our village's Land God!

Our elder brother…

He did not utter the rest, but the meaning was clear.

Zhang Guihua, angry, said, "Wang Lin, what do you mean? On what grounds do you claim my older brother is unqualified to be the Mountain God of Shizi Ling?"

"Wang Lin, Guihua, why are you arguing?"

Li Ping, just passing the bedroom doorway, heard the quarrel inside, was startled, hurriedly opened the door, and asked anxiously, "What exactly happened that made you both argue?"

Zhang Guihua, angry, said, "Sister‑in‑law, you're just in time; that old fool doesn't believe me!"

"I would like to believe you…"

Wang Lin gave a wry smile; before he could finish, Li Ping gestured with her eyes and interjected, "Wang Lin, I'm not criticizing you; you and Guihua are an old married couple. Why don't you believe her words?"

Wang Lin sighed, "Sister‑in‑law, Guihua just said she dreamed of her older brother last night…"

Li Ping cut in again, "Dreaming of De Ben is a good thing; don't you believe Guihua could dream of De Ben?"

"Sister‑in‑law, let me finish speaking first!"

Wang Lin sensed Li Ping's displeasure and hurriedly said, "Guihua told me that in the dream her older brother said he had become the Mountain God of Shizi Ling for us!"

"Exactly, he told me himself!" Zhang Guihua's weathered old face bore a childlike pride, and she could not wait to say:

"Sister‑in‑law, I recall our village has a Mountain God Temple, but it hasn't been worshipped for many years and is now dilapidated. We must tidy it up properly, for it will become our older brother's residence."

"We also need to have someone carve a magnificent statue for our older brother so that no one looks down on him!"

Upon hearing Zhang Guihua's nonstop excitement, Li Ping's expression turned extremely odd.

She originally still held some grievance; Zhang Guihua was clearly overly sorrowful because her older brother had suddenly passed away, and Wang Lin could not match her insight. Even if she spoke nonsense, they had to follow her wishes; upon hearing Zhang Guihua's words, she finally understood why Wang Lin acted as he did.

Her De Ben became the Mountain God of Shizi Ling?

It is a wonderful thing she never even dared to imagine!

Obviously.

It is either Zhang Guihua's excessive grief or her inability to accept her older brother's sudden departure that gave rise to this fantasy.

"Sister‑in‑law, sister‑in‑law, sister‑in‑law! Am I being heard?"

This novel you have reached

Zhang Guihua, seeing Li Ping as if frozen, quickly called out.

Li Ping gave a wry smile, "Guihua, I'm listening!"

"Alright then, sister‑in‑law, shall we go tidy up the Mountain God Temple?"

Zhang Guihua asked, then impatiently said, "If you ask me, we should go right now!"

Li Ping replied, "Guihua, in my opinion, we should eat first before going!"

Zhang Guihua paused, then realized, "That's right, we need to eat before going; we can't work on an empty stomach. Sister‑in‑law, is the rice ready?"

"It's being cooked in the kitchen…"

Before Li Ping could finish, Zhang Guihua impatiently interrupted, "I'll go help!"

Wang Lin, watching Zhang Guihua's swift departure, felt like crying without tears and said, "Sister‑in‑law, aren't you just causing trouble? Could it be that you also believe Guihua's words?"

"I would like to believe Guihua's words, but our De Ben has no such fortune; I'd be satisfied just to be born into a good family in the next life—how could he become the Mountain God of Shizi Ling?"

Li Ping let out a slight sigh, saw Wang Lin about to speak, and continued,

"Wang Lin, you know the relationship between Guihua and De Ben; Guihua may not be able to accept it right away, since De Ben has left her."

"Guihua dreamed that De Ben told her he had become the Mountain God of Shizi Ling; for Guihua, that is actually a good thing."

"At least it gives Guihua something to cling to in her heart!"

Wang Lin opened his mouth, swallowed the words that rose to his lips, took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and said, "Sister‑in‑law, you're right; this matter is indeed a good thing for Guihua!"

"All right, you should rest now; you kept watch all night last night, and there are still many tasks for you to handle later!"

Li Ping laughed.

But if you look closely, you can clearly see a glimmer of tears flashing in her eye sockets.

Zhang Guihua couldn't accept it, and Zhang Deben just suddenly left like that—could she accept it?

She also cannot accept it!

(End of chapter)