Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 2

she,
What a beauty.

The water ripples softly, twisting the light and shadow just right, and combined with the movements of the little yellow warbler, it seems as if it has been rendered with a layer of filter.

Li Zhuiyuan had been taken by his parents to watch the company's art performances before, and had seen many professional singers and dancers, but yesterday he was no less shocked by the performance of the little yellow warbler than his brothers and sisters.

Under his parents' education, he has always been very knowledgeable and obedient to the rules. However, the little yellow warbler under the simple shed showed him another kind of wild style.

It's flirty, it's wild, it's earthy, and it's not presentable, but the smell is really good.

She came closer and closer, like a person in a painting, walking out of the painting and walking back into the painting.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan had forgotten his situation, as if he had forgotten that he was still in the water, and ignored the panic of being unable to breathe and the water that kept choking his mouth and nose.

until,

She held out her hand.

Yesterday, when he was squeezed in front with his brothers to watch the performance, the little yellow warbler came to him, twisting her waist and singing, and even 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.

but,

This time she held out two hands.

Two hands grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's shoulders.

"It's so cold...it hurts..."

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

Fear finally appeared in Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, like a person whose anesthesia had worn off and who suddenly regained the feeling of pain.

He wanted to break free, to dodge, to escape, but those hands held him tightly, and no matter how he struggled, he could not break free.

At this moment, a force came from behind.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that he was being pulled, just like the tug-of-war he played in school before, but this time he was the rope.

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

In his field of vision, he felt himself floating higher and higher, while the little yellow warbler below was getting farther and farther away and smaller.

She raised her arms towards him, and an impossible abyss gradually appeared between the two of them.

"Hey!"

Fortunately, his grandson was carrying a bamboo basket on his back, and Li Weihan used the basket to push himself upward.

It was so heavy, really so heavy. He was just a child, but Li Weihan felt like he was competing with an ox in heat.

There was a force below that prevented his grandson from coming up.

Lei Zi also came to help at this time. He held Li Weihan's waist and pushed backwards.

at last,

"Wow!"

When the grandson was pulled out of the water, the force of struggle suddenly disappeared, and Li Weihan, Lei Zi and Li Zhuiyuan who had just been captured fell onto the boat together.

"Come on!"

Li Weihan yelled at Pan Zi before he could even get up.

This time, Pan Zi did not let him down. He used all his strength to paddle the boat and quickly moved to the other side.

"Master, she's coming, she's coming!"

Lei Zi pointed forward in horror.

Li Weihan looked over there and saw that along with the movement of the boat, the mass of black hair on the water was actually moving towards here.

She is chasing!

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

"Okay, Master."

Lei Zi got up and ran, and the two brothers shouted and worked together, and the speed of the boat increased further.

Li Weihan picked up a fishing rod with a serious expression. After discovering that the ball of hair was still shortening the distance between it and the boat, Li Weihan shouted loudly and poked the fishing rod towards a position slightly in front of the ball of hair.

The fishing rod entered the water and should have been stabbed, but it did not encounter any resistance at all. Instead, a huge force appeared and continued to pull the fishing rod downwards.

"Ouch……"

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

Hair, closer.

Standing at the side of the boat, Li Weihan could see the black cheongsam figure of the woman underwater in front of him.

The river was flowing eastward, but she was swimming against the current.

She was walking, she was really walking by herself!
"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

The ship began to shake, gradually becoming more violent.

It was hard for Li Weihan to imagine what would happen if the boat capsized and he and his grandchildren fell into the water. This was no longer a question of whether one was a good swimmer or not; this was too weird to die!
At this moment, Li Weihan's eyes swept across the fishing net under his feet. Without time to think, he immediately grabbed the fishing net and threw it towards the hair position which was less than two meters away from the boat.

The fishing net was first placed on the water surface, and soon half of it sank around it.

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

It works, it tripped her!
Li Weihan rushed to the stern and grabbed the bamboo pole: "Go and see Xiao Yuanhou!"

"Okay, Master."

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were just big kids after all. The previous hard work of rowing had already made them a little exhausted. After Li Weihan took over, they immediately ran to Li Zhuiyuan.

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

"Master, Yuanzi can't be woken up."

Li Weihan rowed the boat while looking at the fishing nets getting farther and farther away, and shouted back, "Are you angry?"

"Master, I'm angry!"

"Give Xiao Yuan Hou a pat on the back."

The two brothers immediately did as they were told. One helped Li Zhuiyuan sit up while the other patted his back.

But after struggling for a long time, Li Zhuiyuan still did not wake up.

"Master, it's useless!"

Li Weihan did not answer, but just gritted his teeth and kept rowing, letting the sweat flow into his eyes without daring to wipe it away.

Finally, the boat reached home. Li Weihan threw away the bamboo pole, and without bothering to tie the boat rope, he picked up Li Zhuiyuan and jumped off the boat. However, he was very tired, and he staggered when he jumped. In order to protect his grandson in his arms, he could only use his knees to support the blue brick steps below.

"hiss……"

There was a cut on his knee, but he forced himself to get up the next moment and carried the child into the house:
"Guiying, Guiying!"

"You're back so early?" Cui Guiying was cleaning the stove. When she heard the noise, she stood up and saw her husband holding the 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 house and the beds were too small for them to sleep. It was summer, so they all slept on the floor at night.

Cui Guiying picked up Li Zhuiyuan's head and patted his face, but found that the child could not be awakened no matter what she did, so she cried:
"Oh, my child, my child, what's the matter with you?"

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

Cui Guiying quickly wiped her eyes and stood up to get her clothes.

"Pan Zi, go call Zheng Datong!"

"Okay, Master."

Zheng Datong's real name is Zheng Huamin. He is a doctor in the clinic of Siyuan Village, or a barefoot doctor. Because he likes to use a large syringe to deliberately scare children, the children first gave him this nickname. Over time, the adults also started calling him that.

"Lei Zi, go call Blind Liu."

"Okay, Master."

Blind Liu's real name was Liu Jinxia. Her parents died early, and her uncle arranged for her to marry from Si'an Town. In the first year after her marriage, her parents-in-law died of illness one after another. I don't know how many daughters-in-law in the village secretly envied and cried for her.

As a result, on the eve of the following year, the man went to the toilet after drinking and fell into a pit and drowned, leaving behind only a newborn daughter.

At that time, there was a rumor in the village that Liu Jinxia was very lucky.

Life was hard for a widow raising a child, so in addition to taking care of the farm work at home, Liu Jinxia also started a business of fortune-telling for people. The more her rumors spread, the more people believed in her ability.

These days, working in the fields was just enough to get by, and if one wanted to live a more affluent life, one had to rely on other means of making a living. Liu Jinxia relied on this means of making a living, and managed to find a son-in-law for her daughter Li Juxiang.

As a result, just in the second year after the son-in-law got married, he had a sudden heart attack. While he was planting rice in the field, he fell headfirst into the ground and died.

Li Juxiang was left behind to take care of a newborn daughter.

Now, not only the people in the village, but also people in the surrounding area were certain of Liu Jinxia's fate, and Liu Jinxia's business became even better as a result.

She simply rented out the family's fields to others for farming, and asked her daughter to buy a tricycle from the town. Wherever there was business, she would ask her daughter Li Juxiang to ride the tricycle to take her there.

A few years ago, Liu Jinxia suffered from cataracts and her eyesight became less clear, which also improved her personal business image.

Here, Cui Guiying had just changed Li Zhuiyuan's wet clothes when she saw her husband taking a bucket of well water to wash the blood off his knee, then opened the locked cupboard and took out three packs of cigarettes.

She threw a packet to Cui Guiying and instructed, "When Zheng Datong comes, open it and pull out one of the needles in front of him. When he leaves, pull out another one. The cost of the medicine will be on the bill."

Then, Li Weihan threw another packet over: "Blind Liu, give her a whole packet, and don't talk about the rest."

Cui Guiying reminded: "I heard that it is very expensive for Blind Liu to do a job now."

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

Liu Jinxia's husband and Li Weihan grew up playing in the mud together. In the first few years after her husband left, the family was in financial difficulty for an orphan and a widow, and Li Weihan often sent some financial support and helped with some work during the busy farming season. As a result, Li Weihan was often gossiped about.

Although the two families don't visit each other often now, if that blind Liu dares to take his family's money, Li Weihan will spit in her face.

Li Weihan put the last packet into his pocket.

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

Li Weihan nodded: "I'll go find Uncle Sanjiang."

"What! What did you bump into?"

Li Weihan glanced at the children around him and glared at his wife: "Let's talk about it when I come back."

After saying that, Li Weihan pushed the 28-inch bicycle out of the door.

Cui Guiying sat back at the table, caressing Li Zhuiyuan and calling his name.

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

Hu Zi said immediately: "I know, Brother Yuan Zi encountered a water monkey and was dragged down to be a scapegoat!"

For a moment, the children around were all frightened and backed away.

"Snapped!"

A slap mark appeared on Hu Zi's face.

Cui Guiying cursed, "Bah, you are crazy and I am telling you to talk nonsense. Go outside and see if the people you invited have arrived. Go quickly!"

"Hey! I'll go right away!"

Hu Zi was not a hypocritical person. Although the slap hurt, he did not take it to heart. He pulled Shi Tou and the others out to see who was around.

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

There is a local custom that if someone in a family suffers from a headache, fever or general discomfort, this needle will be used 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 medicine box.

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

Cui Guiying took out the cigarette, unpacked it, pulled out a cigarette and handed it over.

Zheng Datong took the cigarette, put it between his ears, squatted down, looked at Li Zhuiyuan, and asked, "What's wrong with you, kid?"

"If you fall into the water, you won't wake up."

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

When he put away his stethoscope, Cui Guiying came over and asked, "Doctor Zheng, how is it?"

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

After patting the child on the back and observing him for a while, Zheng Datong put the child down and laid him down. He took the cigarette out of his ear and put it in his mouth.

Cui Guiying hurriedly got up and went to the stove to get a match, but saw that Zheng Datong had already lit the cigarette and took several puffs.

"How's it going, doctor?"

Zheng Datong looked at Cui Guiying and asked, "How long have you been in the water?"

Cui Guiying looked at Pan Zi.

Pan Zi: "It was only a short while. As soon as Yuan Zi fell down, he was caught by his grandfather."

Zheng Datong frowned again and took a long puff of cigarette. After blowing out the smoke ring, he said, "Aunt, the child didn't drown or choke on water. It's nothing serious."

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

"Let's take the kid to the town clinic for another checkup. There might be other problems." Zheng Datong packed up his things and stood up. He had no other choice.

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

"No more smoking, no more smoking." While saying this, he took the cigarette and put it between his ears.

Then, he drew the cigarette to the filter tip, threw the butt on the ground, stepped on it, and whispered, "Have you asked Blind Liu to take a look?"

"Oh, please." Cui Guiying felt a little embarrassed.

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

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry to trouble you. I'm sorry to trouble you."

At this time, Lei Zi ran in, wiped the sweat off his face with his hand, and said to Cui Guiying: "Blind Liu is here."

Cui Guiying scolded: "Xina Kangzi has no respect for elders, you should call her Grandma Liu."

Zheng Datong knew that he had to give up his seat, so he walked out of the house and happened to see a tricycle coming over from a distance with an old woman sitting on it.

"Ah……"

Zheng Datong suddenly thought of the various new drugs that had been hyped in the newspapers recently. Wasn’t he involved in them? Hey, what were they called?

Oh, right……

Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Lei Zi ran home first to inform them. Li Juxiang was pedaling a tricycle behind him, complaining, "Mom, you shouldn't be so slow. You should have come earlier."

Previously, a man from the neighboring town of Shigang came to discuss the arrangements for his mother's death anniversary. Her mother could have asked him to wait at home and come here first, but her mother insisted on finishing her affairs with that man and then went to the toilet before coming over.

Liu Jinxia, ​​who was sitting on a small bench at the back, blew out a puff of smoke and said unhappily, "Why are you in such a hurry? You won't get any money from him anyway."

"Mom, are you really embarrassed to accept it?"

"Bah, if he wants to give it to me, I'll take it."

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

"He has four sons, why doesn't he give one to me?" Liu Jinxia shook off the ashes from her cigarette. "I didn't marry him, so I don't want any dowry from his family. He doesn't even want a daughter-in-law for free, ha!"

"Then how can you blame Uncle Han?"

"I say, Xiang Hou, it doesn't matter how others talk nonsense about us, after all, the mouth is on the face. Why do you have to humiliate yourself like this?" Li Juxiang pursed her lips.

"Xiang Hou, Xiao Cui Hou is still young, and I, your mother, don't have many years left to live. Xiao Cui Hou will still have to rely on you in the future. So what if you don't have a man? I, Liu Jinxia, ​​will prove that even without a man, we can still have good food and drink, and live better than other families!"

"We're here, Mom."

We rode the tricycle up the dam and arrived at Lao Li’s house.

Cui Guiying took the initiative to help Liu Jinxia get out of the car. Liu Jinxia patted the back of Cui Guiying's hand and said, "Oh, how can I have the nerve to ask you to help me? Your Han Hou is my benefactor."

"Grandma, please come and check on the child. He hasn't woken up yet."

Liu Jinxia: "I heard from Lei Hou that it was something in the water?"

Cui Guiying: "My grandfather has already gone to ask Uncle Sanjiang for help."

Hearing this, Liu Jinxia's heart tightened, and she grabbed Cui Guiying's hand and urged, "Quick, take me to see my son."

Lei Zi had also said some of this when he came to deliver the message and call people, but at that time people thought that the boy was just exaggerating and talking nonsense. But now that Li Weihan has gone to find that Li Sanjiang, the matter has become really serious!

Liu Jinxia still remembers the good things Li Weihan had done in the past.

As soon as she entered the house, she heard a group of children chattering. Liu Jinxia had poor eyesight and felt like she had walked into a duck nest. She waved her hands and cursed:
"All of you, please get out of the way and stop making noise. You're disturbing the Kitchen God!"

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

"Where are the people?" Liu Jinxia asked.

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

"Bring it to the kitchen. There's a stove."

"Okay, I'll go get the kid out right away."

With the help of Li Juxiang, Li Zhuiyuan was placed at the kitchen dining table.

Liu Jinxia's experienced hands first touched Li Zhuiyuan's legs, then moved up from his legs to his face. After touching his face, she stopped at the child's shoulders and pressed gently.

Her hands were full of smoke and cured flavor from smoking, and she liked to soak them in white vinegar for maintenance, so the smell was even more pungent.

People can smell it standing nearby, and if someone smells it up close, a normal fainting spell might actually be woken up by the smell.

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

“She screamed, she screamed.” Cui Guiying immediately brought over the bowl of water and the needle. Then, she screamed out in fear, “Ah!”

The needles in this bowl were not only rusty, but also red rust, spreading around the needles at the bottom.

Seeing this, Li Juxiang, who was standing next to her, immediately went over to her mother's ear to describe what was happening.

After listening to this, Liu Jinxia took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Sister, my child is possessed."

"Ah?" Cui Guiying was startled again and begged immediately, "Please save him, save him. This is the only child of my daughter. I can't let anything happen to him if I leave him here to raise him."

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

Liu Jinxia pushed it away and sighed instead.

Cui Guiying: "You smoke first, we will make up the interest later..."

Liu Jinxia interrupted Cui Guiying and said, "I won't accept your things. I can't accept them. They are too hot to handle."

"Sister, please don't say that. My child..."

Liu Jinxia turned her head towards her daughter and said with a wry smile, "Did you hear that? It's the son of your uncle Han's favorite little girl."

"He is the son of Marquis Lan." Li Juxiang paused and added, "Marquis Lan used to be very good to me."

Lan Hou's name is Li Lan, and she is Li Zhuiyuan's mother.

At that time, everyone in the village thought that Liu Jinxia's family was unlucky, and parents would also warn their children not to play with Li Juxiang. So Li Juxiang had a lonely childhood. She couldn't run around like other children because when she went to other people's homes, the adults would roll their eyes.

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

Liu Jinxia closed her eyes and remained silent.

Li Juxiang looked at Li Zhuiyuan and said to Cui Guiying, "This boy is really good-looking. He looks a lot like Lan Hou."

Cui Guiying responded twice, but her attention was still on Liu Jinxia. She was not sure whether Liu Jinxia was shirking responsibility or making excuses.

Li Juxiang continued, "Little Cui Hou said the day before yesterday that there was a brother named Xiao Yuan Hou who gave her chocolate to eat and went to the stream with her to pick up stones."

Li Juxiang was isolated as a child, not to mention her daughter Li Cuicui now. On weekdays, her daughter can only stand far away and watch other children play together.

Cuicui didn't dare to get close to the front. If she did, the children would say that the adults at home told them not to play with her, and then they would run away.

The day before yesterday, Cuicui came home very happy and said that a very handsome brother played with her for the whole afternoon. Other children told her not to play with her, but the brother didn't care and even gave her chocolate.

Liu Jinxia opened her eyes and looked at her daughter helplessly and distressedly. Then, she turned to Cui Guiying:
"Girl, let's be honest with you."

"Hey, tell me."

"It's normal. Out of 20 transactions, 15 of them are actually nothing. I just go through the motions and they just want to feel at ease.

Among the remaining ones, there are four things that seem to be something important, but in the end they are nothing.

So, at most, there is only one thing, which is a little bit of liquid from fart, but it is not difficult to wipe off.

I won't take your money. First, your husband has helped my mother and me before, so I can't take your money. Second, it's just a formality, so there's no need to take it in the face of something like this."

"Hey, you, you have to save him, sister."

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

"it is good."

There are many grooves on the local earthen stove. One groove is usually located behind the stove, with the Kitchen God pasted on it and a small incense burner placed in the groove.

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

Liu Jinxia grabbed a handful of incense ash, held it in her hand and muttered something.

I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it took quite a while anyway.

Liu Jinxia: "Cover it up."

Before Cui Guiying understood, Li Juxiang covered Li Zhuiyuan's mouth and nose with her hands.

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

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

Because she saw two purple marks suddenly appearing on her grandson's shoulders, which looked like two palms!

Liu Jinxia: "So fierce... Girl, let's start."

"Hey."

Li Juxiang responded, went out of the house and got some things from the tricycle. She put an empty bowl and a brush in Liu Jinxia's hands, poured ink into the bowl, and then took out a ball of red thread from her pocket. It looked like it was used for knitting a sweater, but after it was untied, it gave off a fishy smell. A lot of red was left on Li Juxiang's palms.

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

Liu Jinxia dipped the brush into ink and then kept drawing circles on Li Zhuiyuan's forehead, muttering something while drawing circles.

At first, everything was normal and nothing happened.

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

Cui Guiying subconsciously wanted to see if the other end of the line was pulled by Li Juxiang, but when she raised her head, she saw Li Juxiang opening her mouth in pain, and then she knelt on the ground with a "thump", her upper body leaning forward, as if someone was pressing her down and she was about to kowtow.

Liu Jinxia glanced at her daughter with great pity, but did not slow down her speaking speed or her hand movement.

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

Li Juxiang fell to the ground on her side in pain, she rolled over with her arms folded, her feet kicking wildly, saliva pouring out of her mouth, her eyes wide open, and her face turning blue.

Cui Guiying stood nearby, worried about her grandson and also worried about what 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 sprawled out, gasping for breath.

Liu Jinxia also stopped and her body swayed. Cui Guiying quickly reached out to support her.

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

"Hey, good."

Cui Guiying immediately did as she was told. She took a basin, opened the small stove cover in the middle of the stove, and scooped out hot water with a wooden spoon.

After wetting the handkerchief, she began to wipe the incense ash for Li Zhuiyuan.

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

Cui Guiying also took a special look at the handkerchief and found that there was no purple color on it.

"Sister, is the child okay?"

Liu Jinxia took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep breath and then coughed violently, with tears and snot falling down. She was choked by the cigarette.

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

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

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

"Hey, you finally woke up. May the Buddha bless you, may the Buddha bless you."

Beside her, Li Juxiang got up from the ground, took a clean bowl, poured herself some water, and started sipping it.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and grabbed Cui Guiying's arm, then he leaned a little to the side, wanting to get into his grandmother's arms.

Cui Guiying hurriedly took Li Zhuiyuan into her arms and coaxed him, "My child, my little Yuanhou, my good child..."

Liu Jinxia: "You take care of the kid. Let him get some more sleep. He'll be fine when he wakes up."

Li Juxiang came over and helped her mother out.

Cui Guiying said: "When the Marquis of Han comes back, he and I..."

Liu Jinxia waved her hand and said, "Let's wait until the child is fully recovered. We are going home first. Don't send me off."

Cui Guiying really couldn't send her grandson off anymore, so she could only continue to hold her grandson in her arms.

At this time, Li Zhuiyuan, who was comforted in his grandmother's arms, began to fall asleep again, but this time his sleeping posture was much more peaceful, unlike the previous one with his lips pursed and brows frowned, which was heartbreaking.

On the way back on the tricycle, Liu Jinxia half squatted, opened her daughter's collar, looked at the bruise, and asked:

"Does it hurt?"

"Mom, please sit still and don't fall down."

Liu Jinxia sat back down for a long while, then slapped her thigh and cursed:
"Xiang Hou, are we really born to be cheap?"

……

Li Weihan was late in coming back, so Cui Guiying sent Huzi and Shitou to look for him at Li Sanjiang's house. When Huzi and Shitou came back, they told her that Li Sanjiang's servant said he had gone out to deliver paper, so Li Weihan went to look for him.

Cui Guiying understood that Li Sanjiang was going to deliver paper-cutting. According to the usual practice, the host would invite him to have a meal. He was a heavy drinker and would have to wait for who knows how long. His wife was going to urge him.

For dinner, Cui Guiying asked several older children to help with the cooking. After dinner, Li Weihan did not come back, so Cui Guiying arranged for the children to sleep in the inner room.

She took Li Zhuiyuan to sleep alone in the kitchen, propped up a door panel, and Li Zhuiyuan slept soundly.

Cui Guiying used a palm-leaf fan to fan the child while wiping away tears with heartache. The child was really suffering this time.

She thought of her daughter who had just divorced and wondered how she was doing now.

Unlike other families that favor boys over girls, Cui Guiying and her husband loved this little girl the most.

The girl wanted to study and she did well in her studies, so they continued to support her. No matter what others said about girls having no point in studying and that it was better for them to get married early, they remained unmoved.

This preference for daughters naturally extends to grandchildren.

Li Zhuiyuan had a dream in which he was teaching a class for young people. The old professor on the podium closed the book and said, "Okay, get out of class dismissed."

He followed his deskmate out of the classroom and walked among a group of tall adults.

They both walked into the bathroom and stood on the urinal steps.

The classmate had already unzipped his pants and started to pee, and then urged him:
"Zhuiyuan, you pee too, what are you waiting for?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded, and just as he pulled down his zipper, he suddenly became alert.

He woke up from the dream, opened his eyes, and in the moonlight outside, saw his grandmother sleeping beside him, still holding a palm-leaf fan in her hand.

That was a close call. I almost wet the bed.

Li Zhuiyuan's memory of the day was already a little fuzzy. He got up quietly and prepared to pee.

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

Therefore, when locals talk about going to the toilet, they generally call it "going to the porcelain toilet."

At first, Li Zhuiyuan went there to urinate. Later, with the experience shared by his brothers, Li Zhuiyuan finally understood that as long as he left his home and the courtyard, he could mark anywhere.

If you go out the front door, you have to go out of the dam again, which is a bit far. Li Zhuiyuan chose to go out the back door and come to the river, which is closer.

Just as Li Zhuiyuan was ready, he suddenly heard the sounds of "dong...dong...dong..."

He looked down and found that it was his boat parked on the shore that was shaking.

Li Zhuiyuan seemed to have some images in his mind. It seemed like he went out on a boat with his grandfather and brothers to catch fish during the day?

Then, did you catch any fish? What did you have for dinner? Why don’t you have any recollection?

"Boom...boom...boom..."

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

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan recalled what happened during the day, remembered his black hair, remembered falling into the water, remembered being underwater... and also remembered the fear.

Li Zhuiyuan's body went limp, he stumbled and sat on the ground. He subconsciously reached out to touch his shoulders, as if a pair of cold hands were grabbing them.

It was this sitting down action that changed the height, causing the previously invisible bottom of the boat to fall into his field of vision.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

It turned out that there was a person under the water. Her head would float up to the surface from time to time, hit the bottom of the boat, then go down again, then continue to pop out and hit the bottom again, over and over again, tirelessly.

Suddenly, the banging stopped and the boat stopped shaking.

The head surfaced again, and did not continue to crash into the bottom of the boat. Instead, it slowly turned around, with wet black hair sliding down to both sides, revealing just half of a gorgeous woman's face.

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

At this moment, she seemed to have found the person she was looking for. The corners of her mouth slowly curved to both sides and she gradually revealed a smile.

Her lips were still bright red, somewhat dazzling in the quiet night.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyes vigorously, and when he looked over again, he found that the other person's upper body had emerged from the water at some point, with his arms hanging down on both sides of his body.

Not daring to delay any longer, Li Zhuiyuan quickly climbed up using his hands and feet and ran towards the house. He tripped when he stepped over the threshold, but fortunately he grabbed the door frame and managed to keep his balance.

Glancing back, I saw that the little yellow warbler, which had only half of its body exposed in the river, had left the river and was standing on the lowest bluestone step.

"grandmother!"

Li Zhuiyuan ran to the door bed and stretched out his hand to push Cui Guiying, but Cui Guiying held the palm-leaf fan and continued to sleep soundly.

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

Li Zhuiyuan continued to call out, but Cui Guiying still showed no sign of waking up.

"Tick tock...tick tock...tick tock..."

The sound of water dripping came from behind.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around and saw a pair of red high heels first, then the white swollen ankles. The black cheongsam tightly wrapped her body, and water drops kept dripping down the corners of her clothes and the ends of her hair.

she,
Just standing upright on the threshold!

(End of this chapter)