Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 4

When Li Sanjiang returned home carrying Li Zhuiyuan on his back, the sky was just beginning to turn pale.

Cui Guiying took the child over, and Li Sanjiang talked to Li Weihan for a while before leaving.

Li Zhuiyuan was placed on a mat bed. He closed his eyes for a while and then opened them again.

He couldn't sleep, and as soon as he closed his eyes he seemed to see the little yellow warbler dancing in the fish pond again.

Cui Guiying and Li Weihan did not go into the inner room to rest, but sat in the kitchen.

The woman kept rubbing her fingers until they turned red; the man kept smoking water pipe, one pot after another.

Looking at the sky which had already brightened, Cui Guiying stood up and said, "I'll make breakfast for the kids first."

Li Weihan exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "It's a little early to smoke."

Cui Guiying had no choice but to sit down again and look at her man: "How long do we have to wait?"

"Wait for someone to notify me."

"Who will notify?"

Li Weihan didn't answer, but just continued to suck on his cigarette.

After sitting for a while, there was a knock on the door:
"Guiying Hou, Guiying Hou."

It’s my next-door neighbor, Zhao Simei.

Li Weihan tapped his hookah and said, "The notice has arrived."

Cui Guiying stood up, yawned, rubbed her eyes, opened the door, and asked in confusion, "What's the matter, Si Meihou?"

Zhao Simei reached out and grabbed Cui Guiying's arm and shook it vigorously:

"Someone died in the Bearded Man's family!"

"What?"

"Two of them are dead, the bearded man and his youngest son. They were just seen floating in the fish pond at home. Everyone has gone to see them. Let's go and take a look together!"

"go!"

Before Cui Guiying left, she called to the inner room, "Ying Hou, the rice is ready. Please make breakfast later."

"Got it, grandma."

After getting the response, Cui Guiying went out with Zhao Simei.

Li Weihan waited for a while, touched the opened cigarette in his pocket, put the hookah on the table, and went out.

Zhao Simei's previous knock on the door had actually woken up the children. Knowing that something big had happened, the children got up and ran out to see what was going on.

No matter how Yingzi shouted "brush your teeth and wash your face" from behind, she couldn't call him back.

At this time, the fish pond of Big Beard's family was surrounded by people, and villagers kept rushing here on the village road, men, women, young and old, with their families.

There were two bodies floating on the fish pond, and no one came to deal with them, even though there was a small boat parked by the pond.

Although the Bearded Man family had a bad reputation in the village, the villagers were not so indifferent;
The reason why they didn't help get the bodies ashore was that the two bodies were like biscuits that had been soaked in a bowl for a long time. They were bloated and had a translucent meat-crystal color on the surface, like two large pieces of human-shaped pig skin jelly.

Many people know that drowned bodies will swell if soaked for too long, but how is it possible that two people who were still alive yesterday would swell like mushrooms overnight?
This was so weird that no one dared to touch the corpse.

The bearded man's wife knelt by the pond and cried loudly, but she only knew how to cry and didn't know what to do. When people around her came to persuade her, she ignored them and just kept howling about her miserable life.

Finally, the eldest brother of the Bearded Man family rushed back from the town, and there was finally someone in charge.

However, the eldest son was so frightened when he saw his father and younger brother lying on the pond that his face twitched. He did not dare to go down to rescue them, so he had to ask someone to ask Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang came pushing a cart loaded with his stuff.

After arriving at the place, Li Sanjiang first took a look at the situation on the pond, then he was so scared that he kept waving his hands and backing away:

"I dare not take this damn thing. It will shorten my lifespan. It will shorten my lifespan! Find someone else, find someone else quickly!"

His bluff caused an uproar among the villagers who were watching nearby. They began to whisper to each other about what kind of sin this bearded man had committed and what kind of evil had attracted them.

Soon, a villager brought up the incident of the little yellow warbler yesterday. After all, the funeral team almost had a fight at Big Beard's house, and it was difficult to keep any secrets in the village.

Li Weihan also spoke at this time, telling the people around him about what happened yesterday when he took his grandchildren to row a boat into the river. He said that his grandson fell into the water and had a nightmare about seeing a woman walking in the water. He was so scared that he became hysterical and unconscious. It was useless for Zheng Datong to come and see him. Fortunately, Blind Liu came to deal with it.

Immediately, many people came over to listen to Li Weihan's narration and kept expressing their opinions.

Cui Guiying stood beside Li Weihan with a very nervous expression. On normal days, if she didn't have to cook or do laundry, she could sit on the dam and chat with the women in the village for three days and three nights. But today, she was too dumb to speak.

I feel weak and panicky in my heart, as if the thief is crying "stop thief" and the cat is crying "stop the mouse" on purpose.

Pan Zi, Lei Zi, Hu Zi and Shi Tou also started talking about how they saw a female water ghost yesterday, who almost dragged their own Xiao Yuan Hou down to be a scapegoat. She was here to seek revenge!

For a moment, it seemed as if a large open-air tea party was taking place all around. After the matter of the little yellow warbler was talked about thoroughly, the villagers, who still felt unsatisfied, dug up all the old matters of the bearded man's family and continued to stir up them.

Not long after, the second son of the bearded man came back home with his wife, two daughters and sons-in-law. The two daughters hugged their mother and began to cry together, while the two sons and two sons-in-law stood together and negotiated the price with Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang took advantage of the situation and asked for ten times the price of normally retrieving one person ashore, using the excuse that he had fished out two people at once and the corpse was so evil.

After agreeing on the price, Li Sanjiang set up an altar, lit candles and burned paper, and gave an extra half hour of "Calling Friends and Inviting Companions" chanting to attract everyone's attention.

Although this performance is indeed not as bright as that of other funeral troupes, everyone knows that funeral troupes are just pretentious and this one is truly professional.

During this time, two Santanas drove over, both with police lights on the top. They were people from the town police station.

Normally, if someone drowned in a family, it was just drowning, not a big deal; but this time, two people, a father and a son, drowned at the same time, and it happened right at their doorstep, so the nature of the matter was different.

The police came over to take a look at the situation and were stunned for a moment. They had seen swollen corpses before, but they had never seen one so delicately swollen.

Seeing this, they had no choice but to wait for the body to be fished out. They did not interrupt Li Sanjiang's ceremony, but did not go there either. Instead, they returned to the car on the side of the road, smoked, and waited slowly.

Finally, Li Sanjiang finished his work. He slaughtered a rooster and poured a bowl of black dog blood, which he was not sure if it was real. Then he went down the pond and paddled the boat to the center.

First, use the "guide hook" to hook the body to the side of the boat, then use the "soul-returning basket" to secure the body and pull it onto the boat, and then cover the body with the "homecoming net". After paddling the boat to the edge of the pond, bend over, lower your head, and use a specific method to send the body to your back before going ashore.

This is a very important rule among corpse lifters. The corpse lifters’ feet must be on shore first before releasing the body, because this is how they “send” or “carry” the body home.

Finally, the body can only be put down after the head of the family calls for permission. This can be considered a give and take, completing the job and letting the dead know that he has truly returned home, and will not become a wandering ghost following him.

After following the same pattern twice, the bearded father and son finally ended their drifting and were settled on two straw mats.

After everything was done, Li Sanjiang looked towards the center of the fish pond with some lingering fear. He had just fished out the body in an orderly manner and did not dare to investigate further.

God knows if she is still in here.

The police came and separated the bodies, but the villagers didn't care and continued to stand at a distance and look. From time to time, the screams of frightened children could be heard.

Li Sanjiang paid the money, packed up his things, and then went back pushing the cart with a cigarette in his mouth. The villagers around him all moved out of the way, and those who had just fished out the body also avoided him.

The police began a formal investigation and set up their temporary office at Big Beard's home. The village party secretary also came to assist, helping to call people, boil water and serve tea.

The bearded wife couldn't explain anything. She just woke up and found her husband sleeping next to her, or someone else passed by her fish pond and found the father and son floating on the water and called her.

The deputy director who led the team asked the village party secretary who in the village had a grudge against the bearded man's family. The village party secretary scratched his ears and replied indifferently:
"Oh, that's a bit much."

Next, those who had grudges lined up to take statements.

Including Li Weihan, who told the story of "Little Yellow Oriole", as well as Pan Zi, Lei Zi and others were also called over for questioning.

At first, the police thought that another body was found, and they sent officers to follow Li Weihan to search that section of the river, but they found nothing. In addition, Li Weihan's story was a bit too bizarre, so they could only regard it as a superstitious story told by an old rural man to his grandchildren.

No one knew whether this record was correct or not. Seeing that no one believed him, Li Weihan got anxious and kept reiterating that what he had experienced was true. He pestered the police and people around him to believe him. In the end, he was "persuaded" by the village party secretary.

The funeral team that caused trouble yesterday was also summoned for investigation, but they had gone to the next town to do some work the day before the incident, and the entire team had an alibi.

As for the disappearance of the little yellow warbler and the entanglement involved, firstly, the person or the body has not been found, and secondly, the relevant responsible persons, the bearded man and his wife, are already dead, so they can only report her missing.

This drowning incident of a father and son was finally handled as an accidental investigation result. The general meaning was that the bearded father and son drank some wine at night, and when they were in a good mood, they went to the fish pond to act crazy, and then they all drowned.

The bearded man's family did not make a fuss to continue the investigation because after the funeral, the two sons and two daughters started arguing about dividing the family property. They had an ugly quarrel and it became another topic of conversation in the village.

On that day, it was already dusk when the record was completed. Li Weihan and Cui Guiying took the children home, with the children walking in front and the old couple walking behind.

Cui Guiying patted her chest and asked in fear: "Why did you take the initiative to approach and talk? The police even called you in for questioning. I was so scared."

Li Weihan casually threw the empty cigarette box in his pocket to the side of the road, pursed his lips, and said:

"My uncle taught me to speak out. I can't keep it to myself. Zheng Datong and Liu Jinxia also know something about Xiaoyuanhou's affairs."

Cui Guiying complained: "Just let them know and keep it a secret."

Li Weihan shook his head: "Even if adults can keep a secret, can children keep it secret and not let it slip?"

"This……"

Li Weihan breathed a sigh of relief.

Said:

"Uncle said that the best way to keep a secret is to tell it in public."

……

Almost all the villagers went to the fish pond of Big Beard to watch the fun, but Li Zhuiyuan did not go. He couldn't fall asleep in bed, so he moved a small stool and sat on the dam outside the house, looking at the farmland in the distance.

After a while, her elder sister Yingzi, who had washed the dishes, came out. She first moved out a square stool, placed stationery and homework on it, and sat on the stool. In this way, a simple desk was formed, and the desk lamp was today's bright sun.

Yingzi's parents never paid much attention to her studies, but they also never said things like "It's useless for girls to go to school", "It's better to get married early", or "Use connections to get a job in a textile factory and make money".

Pay the tuition fees due before the semester begins. As for regular material fees, there is no need to be shy or feel guilty about it. Just ask for it normally.

But everything is afraid of comparison. Compared with other girls' families in the village, Yingzi's parents, who just let her go and don't care about her, have become a model of attaching importance to their daughter's education.

Yingzi knew that this was influenced by her aunt Li Lan.

My aunt changed her destiny by studying hard and became the pride of her grandparents. Even her father and uncles would unconsciously straighten their chests and express their pride whenever they mentioned her to outsiders.

However, Yingzi's academic performance can only be considered average, even though she really works hard and does not slack off;
Of course it was impossible for my grandparents to deliberately sacrifice their son to support their daughter. It was just that my father and uncles were really not good at reading.

This made her wonder, could it be that all the brains of the Li family were given to her aunt?

At first, this thought was just there, not strong, until the day after Xiao Yuanhou was sent here. He sat next to me, a little stiff. When I was facing a math problem for a long time without a clue, I heard a whisper in my ear:
"The square root of 3."

Later, whenever Yingzi encountered questions she didn't know how to answer, she would ask Li Zhuiyuan to do them. Yingzi also discovered that Xiao Yuanhou hardly needed to think and could tell the answer just by glancing at the question.

Perhaps the biggest trouble for him comes from having to write out the solution process, otherwise his stupid sister won’t understand it!

You know, she is already in the first year of high school.

Yingzi once asked him what school he attended in Beijing, and Li Zhuiyuan replied: the junior class.

Yingzi subconsciously understood the "junior class" as elementary school.
I felt deeply moved: As expected of primary school students in the capital, the curriculum is so advanced.

Li Zhuiyuan just sat there in a daze, occasionally coming back to his senses to help his sister with a question, and then continued to daydream.

Feeling the pen cap poking him gently, Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at the question, but saw his sister pointing to the west side of the dam, where there was a staircase and a little girl in a floral dress was standing at the bottom of the staircase.

It was Cuicui, Liu Jinxia’s granddaughter. She stood there timidly, not daring to come up.

Yingzi frowned at Li Zhuiyuan and signaled him not to pay attention to her.

In the past, she would have spoken directly, after all, all the children in the village had a consensus not to play with her; but yesterday, Liu Jinxia and her daughter came to her house to "treat her brother", so she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, took the initiative to walk to the edge of the dam, came to Cuicui, and asked with a smile:

"You're here, what's the matter?"

Cuicui looked in other directions, pinched the edge of her skirt with her fingers, and said, "I'm here to play with you."

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan turned around and waved to Sister Yingzi, "Sister, Cuicui and I are going to play."

Yingzi didn't say anything, just sighed, lowered her head and continued to do her homework.

In fact, there is nothing fun about playing. Most of the time, I just don’t want to stay at home, so I run to my friend’s house, call my friends out, and then we all wander around aimlessly together.

Cuicui looked at Li Zhuiyuan who walked out with her, with a smile in her eyes. This was the first time she learned from other children in the village to go to someone else's house and call someone.

However, she still didn't dare to walk onto other people's dams without permission. Children of this age might not understand many things, but they are more sensitive. She didn't want to respond to the adults' rolling eyes.

"Brother Yuanhou, my mother said that you were sick yesterday?"

"Yeah." Li Zhuiyuan was reminded of this, and the little yellow warbler appeared in his mind again, and his smile gradually faded.

"Ah?" Cui Cui apologized immediately, "I won't say anything more, I won't say anything more, it's really not easy to be sick."

Li Zhuiyuan touched his pocket and said apologetically, "Well, I forgot to bring you some snacks."

In fact, it was not that he forgot. His grandparents were not at home, and the cabinet where the snacks were kept was locked and could not be opened. Sister Yingzi seemed to know where the key was hidden, but Li Zhuiyuan knew that if he went to ask her for help to get it, she would say bad things about Cuicui to him in the house.

"Snacks? I have some at home. There are plenty. Come to my house and eat."

"Going to your house?"

"Well, let's go to my house to play."

"Okay."

After being promised, Cuicui plucked up her courage, took the initiative to hold Li Zhuiyuan's hand, and the two walked together on the path along the field.

At this moment, she really hoped that the adults in the houses on the roadside could see her and ask her, "Hey, Xiao Cuihou, who are you playing with?"

I also hope to meet people of my age on the road and let them see that they have playmates.

It’s a pity that most people in the village went to Big Beard’s fish pond to see the pork skin jelly.

However, she was still very happy, and her smile never dropped. If they were not holding hands, she felt that she would spin around with joy.

"Brother Yuanhou, do you not understand what we are saying?"

"At first I couldn't understand it at all, then I could understand it when it was spoken slower and shorter. Now I not only understand it, but I can also speak some of it myself, but my pronunciation is not standard."

When he was first sent to this family, he really couldn't understand anything the elders said to him. Only his brothers and sisters who had been to school could communicate with him in Mandarin.

I remember that every time I called Li Weihan and Cui Guiying "Grandpa and Grandma", they would be obviously a little unhappy, and then repeatedly correct themselves to call them "Grandpa and Grandma".

There is indeed no such term as "grandpa and grandma" in this local area. In many cases, the direction is used to distinguish between grandmother and grandmother. For example, those who live in the south are called "Southern Grandma" and those who live in the north are called "Northern Grandma".

"By the way, Brother Yuanhou, have you ever been to the Forbidden City?"

"Yeah, I've been there."

“I want to go there someday.”

"Okay, call me and I'll take you there."

"Really? Don't lie to me."

"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm very familiar with the Forbidden City."

In Li Zhuiyuan's memory, there was a period of time when Li Lan worked in the Forbidden City, and he was left in the Forbidden City to play by himself. Sometimes he would sit on the steps of the side door, holding an orange cat in his arms, watching the tourists coming in from the main gate for the whole afternoon.

"By the way, Brother Yuanhou, have you ever drunk bean juice?"

"Well……"

"Have you ever drunk it?" Cui Cui blinked her big eyes and looked at me curiously.

"Drinked."

"Is it delicious? What does bean juice taste like?"

What is the taste?
Li Zhuiyuan recalled the scene of Cui Guiying cleaning the jar of spoiled sauerkraut at home last week.

“Some people like to drink it, some people don’t.”

"Really? Then I must try it when I go to BJ next time."

"Ah."

"Brother Yuanhou, look, that's my home."

Following the direction of Cuicui's finger, Li Zhuiyuan saw a two-story building behind a piece of farmland.

"You live in a building."

There are houses of all styles in the village. Most of them are brick and tile bungalows. A small number of poor families still live in mud houses. Similarly, a small number of well-off families have taken the lead in building two-story houses.

Walking up to Cuicui's house, in the living room on the first floor, Liu Jinxia was playing bridge with a cigarette in her mouth.

Liu Jinxia's card-playing friends are two old ladies and an old man. When they come to play cards with her, they can have meals at her house. The food is pretty good, with meat and wine, so Liu Jinxia has no shortage of card-playing friends. She is also willing to spend some money to "buy" people to accompany her for entertainment.

The card table is indeed a magical place. Although Liu Jinxia suffers from cataracts and has poor eyesight, it does not affect her card-playing speed at all.

"Grandma, I'm bringing Brother Yuanhou home to play."

"Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan called out.

"Well, let's play." Liu Jinxia responded and turned her attention back to the cards in her hand, "Pong!"

Just now, the people playing cards were talking about what was happening at Big Beard's house. Liu Jinxia responded casually while blowing smoke rings. When she heard her granddaughter bringing Li Zhuiyuan in, she was slightly startled and narrowed her eyes through the smoke.

The boy was possessed by a ghost yesterday, and this morning the bearded man and his wife were found floating in the fish pond.

If there is no putty here, Liu Jinxia would never believe it even if she is beaten to death.

But she did not say anything to stop her granddaughter from playing with Li Zhuiyuan. What a joke. They are all unlucky stars. Who is looking down on whom?

Cuicui took Li Zhuiyuan through the hall to the inner room, where Li Juxiang was sitting on a bench picking vegetables. She was surprised to see her daughter bringing someone back, but when she saw it was Li Zhuiyuan, she couldn't help but smile.

This reminded me of the scene when Li Lan and I played together when I was a child.

Li Juxiang stood up immediately and wiped her hands on her apron: "Sit down, Xiaoyuan Hou."

Then, she went into the house and took out a lot of food to entertain the guests. Liu Jinxia's family was indeed well-off, and Cuicui was the only child in the family, so she was treated to snacks that other children in the village envied.

Li Juxiang also opened two bottles of lemon soda and gave one to Li Zhuiyuan and Cuicui.

This carbonated drink, which looks like a beer bottle, is cheap and very popular. Children are too lazy to pour the drink into a bowl and drink directly from the bottle, imitating the boldness of adults when drinking.

"Xiao Yuanhou, is your mother okay?"

"Okay, Auntie."

"I heard that your mother is divorced..." Li Juxiang suddenly realized that it was inappropriate to ask the child this question, and immediately changed the topic, "Your mother and I often played together when we were young, and we had a good relationship."

"Yeah, mom told me about you, Xiang Hou, Aunt Xiang Hou."

Generally, adding "Hou" at the end is only used between elders and peers, and juniors cannot use it.

But Li Juxiang certainly wasn't angry about this, she was very happy instead, she could imagine the scene when Li Lan called her son "Xiang Hou", which proved that she hadn't forgotten her. "Your mother was very smart at that time, and her grades were good, unlike me, who got a headache when I saw books." Li Juxiang adjusted her earlobe hair, "When will your mother come home to visit?"

"My mother is busy at work, and she said she would pick me up when she's done."

Cuicui said, "Mom, I'll take Brother Yuanhou upstairs to play."

"Well, go ahead and greet Xiao Yuanhou."

Cuicui pulled Li Zhuiyuan up, and when they reached the stairs, she skillfully took off her shoes and changed into a pair of slippers. Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan also took off his shoes.

“No, Brother Yuanhou, don’t take it off, just come up.”

Li Zhuiyuan still took off his shoes and planned to walk up barefoot, so Cuicui had no choice but to hand him her mother's slippers to put on.

Wearing big slippers, Li Zhuiyuan followed Cuicui to the second floor and into her room, where there was a black and white TV.

Liu Jinxia's family bought a TV a long time ago, but they didn't make it public. The villagers were indifferent to her family, and she was too lazy to invite people to watch TV at home.

Cuicui turned on the standing fan, but the blades didn't move: "Hey, is there a power outage?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "The plug is not plugged in."

"Hey, yes." Cui Cui bent down, picked up the plug, and inserted it into the socket on the wall:

"Buzz...buzz...buzz...buzz-buzz--"

The thick fan blades slowly turn, producing a heavenly sound that can blow away the summer heat.

"Brother Yuanhou, do you watch TV?"

"It will be all right."

Cui Cui turned on the TV and turned the wheel. After one turn, there were only a few channels, and half of them were still snowy.

"Brother Jing, are you okay?"

"Rong'er, I'm fine."

"Hmph, Ouyang Feng, you are..."

The Legend of the Condor Heroes is regularly broadcast on TV during every winter and summer vacation.

The two of them sat on the bed and watched TV for a while, and Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt sleepy.

He hasn't rested since last night. He was overly nervous before, but now that his emotions have subsided, fatigue is quickly coming over him.

Cuicui mistakenly thought that Li Zhuiyuan didn't want to watch TV, so she got out of bed and began to introduce the dolls, toys and picture books in her room to Li Zhuiyuan.

Although he was very sleepy, Li Zhuiyuan still looked at her and tried to respond to every one of her introductions.

The little girl was immersed in her own joy of sharing, but she soon found that she could not hear any response. She turned her head to look at the bedside and found that Li Zhuiyuan had leaned against the bed and fell asleep.

Cuicui immediately stopped talking, tiptoed over, and carefully helped Li Zhuiyuan flatten his stomach. She folded the thin quilt that he used to cover himself with in the summer and covered it on Li Zhuiyuan's stomach.

Then she pushed the electric fan towards this side and pressed the small button on the back of the fan, and the fan began to shake its head.

After doing all this, she moved a chair and sat beside the bed, supporting her face with her hands, looking at the sleeping Li Zhuiyuan.

After looking at him for a while, she smiled secretly, her earlobes turned red, and turned her face away. After a while, she couldn't help but continue to look at him.

Time passed by unknowingly.

"Marquis Xiao Cui, Marquis Xiao Cui, bring Marquis Xiao Yuan down for dinner." Li Juxiang's voice came from downstairs.

Cuicui went downstairs immediately and said to Li Juxiang, "Mom, Brother Yuanhou has fallen asleep."

"Then you come down and eat first. We'll save some food for him."

"No, I'm not hungry. I want to wait for Brother Yuanhou to wake up and eat with him."

Most parents in the village who have a bit of self-awareness will stop their children from going out to play with friends near mealtime, for fear that they will be invited to the table for dinner and appear to be trying to take advantage.

However, sometimes it is unavoidable and naturally it ends up on the table.

Cuicui had never experienced this before, and she was willing to wait for Li Zhuiyuan to wake up and have dinner with him.

Li Juxiang smiled, nodded, and went to the living room to invite her mother and fellow card players to have lunch.

Cuicui ran back to the second floor, sat back in her seat, and continued to look at Li Zhuiyuan:
"what?"

Cuicui moved closer with some confusion, because she found that Brother Yuanhou frowned.

"Are you dreaming?"

……

"Grandma, I'm bringing Brother Yuanhou home to play."

"Well, play. Bump!"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Cuicui standing in front of him, and then looked at Liu Jinxia who was playing cards with three friends in the living room. He knew that he was dreaming.

Because the scenes around me were so detached from reality, everything in my vision was black and white, and all the people and objects seemed to be drawn with charcoal.

Although the corresponding people and objects can be presented, they are somewhat blurry and distorted, and there is a strange casualness in the rough lines.

Li Zhuiyuan looked down at himself and found that he was still normal, but the other people and things in the dream were abnormal.

This reminded him of the copied drawings in his mother's study, with the same white background and charcoal marks.

He dreamed of the scene when he and Cuicui just arrived at her house to say hello to Liu Jinxia. Then, Cuicui in front of him took his hand and walked inside.

The little girl's originally delicate hand now felt very rough and a little painful in my hand, like sandpaper.

He couldn't help but break free and stop, but Cuicui continued to walk in alone, but her arm still remained holding someone's.

Behind him, Liu Jinxia and three others who were playing cards in the living room suddenly fell silent.

Li Zhuiyuan looked back and found that the four men had all stopped moving.

Even the smoke rings that Liu Jinxia blew out of her mouth were fixed there and did not continue to disperse.

This stillness also gave Li Zhuiyuan the opportunity to observe. The carbon marks on the three card players were very soft and shallow, while the lines on Liu Jinxia's image were very thick, deep and hard.

After standing there for a long time, Li Zhuiyuan was very confused. Every time he had a dream in the past, he would wake up immediately after realizing it was a dream, but this time, he was still in a dream.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan chose to walk inside and saw Li Juxiang sitting there picking vegetables. The lines on Li Juxiang's body were very hard, which was very inconsistent with the fine lines around her.

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Li Juxiang. The deep carbon marks outlined the details of her expression. She was smiling with reminiscence in her eyes.

"Aunt Juxiang, Aunt Juxiang?"

Li Zhuiyuan tried shouting a few times and even waved his hands in front of her, but Li Juxiang remained motionless and didn't even blink.

After leaving here, Li Zhuiyuan came to the stairs. Before he was about to go up, he took off his shoes and walked up barefoot.

When I arrived at the bedroom, the standing electric fan had stopped and was no longer turning. On the TV, only blurry sketches of Guo Jing and Huang Rong remained.

Cuicui was pointing at one of her dolls with her mouth open, as if she was telling a story, but she was also motionless.

The lines on Cuicui's body are clearer and harder than those on her grandmother and mother, almost becoming black hard lines.

It was as if other people and objects were painted on, but she was carved on.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the bed, but he was not there, it was empty.

Not only the objects were still, but also the sounds. Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that he had not heard any sound for a long time. The whole world was terribly quiet.

He began to feel a little nervous because he didn't know how long he would stay in this dream.

He opened the bedroom door that led to the balcony. The building had an open balcony on the second floor, which was covered with red and white tiles.

Looking into the distance, except for some scribbled graffiti near the houses that barely showed that it was farmland, most of the area in sight was a bleak blank.

Looking up, there was only a piece of white with a halo where the sun had originally been, like a piece of eraser that could fall and erase everything here at any time.

"Hello, is this Aunt Liu's house?"

There was a sound coming from the dam below, which seemed so abrupt and even harsh at this moment.

Li Zhuiyuan, who was standing on the second floor, looked down and saw a man who looked to be about fifty years old, carrying an old lady on his back.

The old lady was very thin, with only a little bit of bone covered by dry skin exposed outside her sleeves. Her hair was very long and messy, hanging down her back.

"Hello, is this Aunt Liu's house?"

The man asked again, turning around anxiously with his old mother on his back.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't know whether he should answer.

at this time,

The old lady who was originally lying on the man's back suddenly raised her head, her face facing Li Zhuiyuan who was standing on the second floor.

Although the images are clearly drawn with charcoal, the old lady's eyes reveal a delicacy that transcends the limits of painting.

That is anger, cruelty and resentment!

The next moment, Li Zhuiyuan found that everything around him began to spin and twist, like a whirlpool that appeared out of nowhere, tearing and sucking in everything around it, including himself.

……

"Brother Yuanhou?"

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and saw Cuicui's concerned face.

"Brother Yuanhou, are you dreaming?"

"Yeah." Li Zhuiyuan sat up and responded, "How long have I slept?"

"Not long, maybe two hours. Brother Yuanhou, let's go downstairs to eat."

"No, I'm going home to eat."

"Oh, you're welcome, Brother Yuanhou." Cuicui took Li Zhuiyuan's hand and led him downstairs, "Mom, Brother Yuanhou is awake."

At this moment, Liu Jinxia and her three poker friends had already finished their lunch and started their afternoon game.

Li Juxiang smiled and opened the red lid on the kitchen table. Inside was a specially reserved meal: "Little Marquis Yuan, come and eat. I'll heat up the soup for you."

"Auntie, I'm going home to eat."

"Be good and listen. Don't be polite to your auntie. Your auntie has never been polite to your mother before. Besides, Cuicui specially waited for you to wake up so that she can eat together."

"Thank you auntie."

"Brother Yuanhou, sit here." Cuicui sat down first, and Li Zhuiyuan went to the other side of the table to help get the dishes and chopsticks.

"Go, go, go, sit down and I'll get it."

"Okay, Auntie."

Li Zhuiyuan walked back and sat down. Soon, Li Juxiang placed chopsticks and a bowl of rice in front of him.

Although the dishes on the table were all served in small ordinary bowls and the portions were not large, they were more than enough for the two children. There were two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, especially the bowl of braised pork with potatoes. There were only two pieces of potatoes as garnish and the rest was all meat, which was obviously left out on purpose.

Li Juxiang brought a bowl of fish soup with sesame oil and vinegar added on top, which tasted delicious and tempting.

In addition, she opened a can of mixed fruit and poured a bowl in front of each of the two children.

It can be said that in the village, it is really rich.

"Xiao Yuanhou, please stay home for dinner tonight. I will make you something delicious." Li Juxiang said with a smile.

Li Zhuiyuan put down his chopsticks and said to Li Juxiang: "It's already a lot. Thank you for your hard work, Auntie."

"Haha, don't put down your chopsticks, eat."

Li Juxiang touched Li Zhuiyuan's head and secretly envied how Li Lan had taught her son. A sensible and polite child would be liked everywhere.

"Xiao Yuanhou, does your mother cook for you at home?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, put his chopsticks on the bowl, and replied, "Mom doesn't know."

"Is your mother busy with work?"

"Well, she's busy."

"You're at your grandparents' house over there, don't they cook for you?"

"Not often."

"Where do you usually eat?"

"Neighbor's house."

Generally after school, in the school’s staff quarters, those grandparents who have finished classes or have retired will take the initiative to take themselves to their homes for dinner.

"Oh, poor children." Li Juxiang stopped asking questions and told the children to eat by themselves. She then took the thermos to add water to the card table.

Just then, a shout came from outside:

"Hello, is this Aunt Liu's house?"

Hearing the sound, the chopsticks Li Zhuiyuan had just picked up slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground.

"Clap!"

……

In the hall, Liu Jinxia threw the bridge cards in her hand onto the table and clapped her hands: "Let's go."

The three card players nodded and stood up to end the game. It was obvious that they were already used to this situation.

However, before leaving the hall, they went to the washbasin in the corner one by one to wash their hands.

There are banana leaves soaked in the washbasin. When washing hands, rub the leaves on your hands, shake your hands, and finally dry them with a towel on the rack.

The purpose of doing this was to get rid of bad luck, and it was arranged by Liu Jinxia herself. Not only did she no longer care about the villagers' attitude towards her family, but she also deliberately set up some rituals to add to her mystery.

Li Zhuiyuan and Cuicui walked into the hall. Liu Jinxia was just getting up from her chair and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"I'm eating. Come out and take a look." Cui Cui said.

"What's so good about it? Forget it, Xiao Cuihou, help grandma collect the cards."

"Okay, tits."

After giving the order, Liu Jinxia walked inside on her own. There was a shady room inside, which was her office.

"Slow down, there is a threshold here." Li Juxiang's voice came from outside. She went out to greet the person when she heard the call.

"Okay, it's okay, it's okay."

Li Zhuiyuan looked towards the door of the hall and saw Li Juxiang supporting an old man as he walked in.

The old man was leaning forward, hunched over, with his hands behind his back. He was a hunchback.

It's also like... carrying a non-existent person on my back.

"Are these your little ones?" the old man asked with a smile as he looked at the two children.

"The girl is mine, and the boy is my sister's. My mother is waiting for you. Go through the front door, turn right and walk to the end."

"Okay, okay, I'll go right away. We can't let Madam Liu wait." The old man continued to walk inside.

Li Zhuiyuan, who was standing behind, kept his eyes on the other's hunchback.

The old man walked into the inner door of the hall, turned right, and should have continued walking inside, but suddenly stopped.

Because he was a hunchback, the area above his shoulders was blocked by the wall, leaving only the hunchback in sight.

Then,

His hands, which were behind his back at the waist, were unconsciously lifted up, his left arm was pressed down, his right arm was raised, his buttocks moved inward, his shoulders turned outward, and his side face was pressed against the wall.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at his empty back. At that moment, he felt as if there was someone there, propping himself up on his back and "looking" at him.

Li Juxiang asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The old man's originally rough voice suddenly became a little shrill and hoarse, and he said:
"This little kid..."

Li Zhuiyuan clenched his hands nervously. He suddenly remembered that his mother had once taken him to browse a wall of paintings. He asked her why there was a large area of ​​​​the wall with nothing painted on it. His mother replied:

Xiaoyuan, this is blank space for you to imagine, and the effect will be better this way.

I was still a little confused at that time, but now, I seem to understand a little.

"Hurry up, my mother is waiting for you inside."

Li Juxiang urged again. She really didn't know why this man stopped here. However, she didn't think there was anything strange about his posture. After all, he was a hunchback, so even if he stood still, it was quite strange.

"Yeah." The old man responded, but suddenly squatted down, and at the same time leaned slightly backward, supporting himself on the ground with his hands.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Li Juxiang reached out to help, but even though the man was hunched over and thin, the force he brought down on her was so heavy that she couldn't pull him up at all. Fortunately, the man managed to maintain his balance with his hands, and just leaned back and squatted, without falling down.

Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan staggered back two steps.

This posture is very similar to the action of putting down the person on the back.

The sunlight outside shines into the hall, and the old-fashioned patterned tiles on the floor do not reflect much luster, at most showing some changes in light and dark.

Li Zhuiyuan moved his gaze downwards. At the inner door, there seemed to be two areas the size of feet that had become a little darker.

It was very slight, so slight that Li Zhuiyuan felt that he was dazzled and was overthinking.

But then, the color of two new areas darkened and then recovered, but the distance between them and himself was getting closer and closer.

Finally, the two darkened colors appeared on the tiles in front of him and did not disappear.

As the cold wind blew over, Li Zhuiyuan felt his face, chest, hands and feet begin to get cold. But the problem was, he was facing inside the house, so where did the wind come from?
The back half of the two darkened colors disappeared, while the front half became darker, and the coolness in front of him became more intense.

Li Zhuiyuan swallowed his saliva, his eyes began to flicker and shift, an instinct made him not dare to look directly at it, as if in front of him, invisible, there was a skinny old lady, leaning forward, her face, coming towards him.

Li Zhuiyuan bit his lip.

Suddenly, he felt the coldness on the left side of his face getting worse, as if a piece of ice was stuck to it, and his scalp also began to feel numb, the kind that you could touch.

The old man squatting on the ground turned his head and looked here, continuing what he had not finished saying before:
"This little boy is really cute."

(End of this chapter)