Annual Ceremony

Chapter 31 Summer Solstice (Part )

Zhenyi and Juzi came to Wang Zhefu's house, only to see the yellow bamboo curtain half rolled up. Inside the house, Mother Zhuo was tying up Old Madam Dong's hair, while Wang Zhefu was hunched over, tidying up the bookcase.

There was an oil lamp lit in the room, and thin sunlight from outside the window came in. Everything was very quiet, which made Zhenyi and Juzi feel instantly at ease.

"Oh, who did I think was so diligent? It turns out to be Deqing." Wang Zhefu held two books in his hands and looked at his granddaughter with a smile. His expression was as kind and funny as ever.

Mrs. Dong also said to her granddaughter in a gentle voice, "Go back to your room and wash up. Tao'er is already cooking breakfast."

Everything returned to normal, as if yesterday's chaos and disputes had never happened.

Looking at this scene, Zhenyi, who had not slept all night, was a little dazed, but more of a relief.

Zhenyi went back to her room to wash up, while Juzi walked over to Wang Zhefu and looked up at him sorting out the books. When a space was cleared in the bookcase, Juzi jumped in immediately. Seeing that Juzi easily filled the shelf with books and the size was just right, Wang Zhefu smiled and said, "Okay, I'll leave this shelf for Juzi to use as a guest..."

After Zhenyi washed and dressed, she heard someone knocking on the courtyard door.

The person who came was the servant of the Chen family who had returned with Old Lady Dong yesterday.

The Chen family heard that there was an old man in the county who was good at treating lung diseases, but he had not seen patients for many years and was not usually available. Yesterday, the Chen family servant was going to take Mrs. Dong to seek medical treatment, but after such a mess, Mrs. Dong asked someone to go back to the Chen family first and agreed to leave together early this morning.

No matter how much Mrs. Dong blamed her husband, she never thought of giving up on seeking medical treatment for her husband, even if there was only a slight possibility.

Zhenyi watched her grandmother get on the car and leave. In the morning light, her grandmother's back looked old and her movements were a little slow, but her back was not bent at all.

This morning, Wang Zhefu ate half a bowl of porridge, which was rare, and Zhenyi was very happy.

Thinking of what happened yesterday, Grandmother went out again. Zhenyi wanted to take a day off to stay at home with Grandfather. In the hall, she heard Grandfather ask her in a gentle voice: "After seeing what happened yesterday, do you still want to study in the future?"

Zhenyi nodded without hesitation: "Yes, I will read it."

It's not just about wanting to read, it's about having to read.

"Good." Wang Zhefu looked at his granddaughter with great satisfaction and said in a hoarse voice: "Our Deqing is a smart and brave child..."

At this time, Zhenyi could not fully understand why "studying" could be called heroic, nor could she understand the trace of worry and guilt hidden in her grandfather's relieved and hopeful eyes.

The old man took the bookcase for Zhenyi and put it on her back with a slightly slow movement. He smiled and said, "You have grown up, and your bookcase is too small... I will make you a new one later."

"Yeah!" Zhenyi nodded happily. She really liked this kind of agreement related to the future, as if by making an agreement she could keep the person who wanted to leave.

Wang Zhefu personally escorted his granddaughter out of the courtyard.

Zhenyi felt that her grandfather was getting better and would surely recover soon after inviting a good doctor.

After leaving the house and walking about ten steps, Zhenyi turned around and saw her grandfather still standing in front of the gate with a crutch, watching her go.

Zhenyi was stunned for a moment. She realized that her grandfather had become so thin and shrunken like a piece of wrinkled old cotton cloth without her knowing when.

Zhenyi's heart seemed to be crumpled into a ball of old cloth, and her eyes suddenly felt sore. She waved her hands and tried to make her voice sound normal enough: "Grandfather, come in quickly!"

Wang Zhefu responded by gently waving his hand to his granddaughter. Juzi squatted beside the old man. Zhenyi asked Juzi to stay at home and take care of her grandfather for her.

Not long after Zhenyi left, the village became noisy again. Juzi was afraid that those people would come to cause trouble and disturb Old Wang, so he went out to patrol.

Those people rushed towards the village entrance again, and the Taoist priest came to perform "ritual" again.

Orange looked for a while, then walked back. When passing by a house, he suddenly stopped.

There was a torn sack with blood on it in front of the house. Orange ran over and smelled it. It was a very familiar smell, and there was yellow dog hair with blood on it.

Orange searched around again and finally found a pile of cooked bones that had been gnawed clean next to the manure pit behind the house.

Orange stood beside the pile of bones and thought about the silly way the yellow dog celebrated his food in the snow.

This dog was so stupid that it didn't even run away. So its owner put it in a sack and beat it to death and ate it.

At this time, several equally skinny dogs came over and stared at the pile of bones.

Orange immediately bent over, his hair stood on end and heaved an armpit, trying to drive the dogs away.

The dogs were starving. As soon as Orange chased one away, the other two came around from behind. Just as Orange was about to pounce, he saw the two dogs sniff the bones and then retreat. Orange's tail, which had been raised high, slowly dropped down.

Orange tried to dig a hole to bury the pile of bones that were bitten by flies, but the soil was too hard and he couldn't dig it.

Juzi became more and more angry as he dug. He ran back to the door of the house and was about to rush in, but he saw a skinny woman sitting on the stone steps of the main hall holding a sick child.

The woman was barefoot, her hair was disheveled, her eyes were dull, and she looked gray all over.

After a moment, Orange retreated one of its front paws.

It has long said that it really hates this place.

Orange finally bit and dragged the torn sack away, covered the pile of bones with it, and slowly walked back home.

In the yard, Old Wang was sitting in a rattan chair, weaving a bookcase with bamboo strips. This scene comforted Orange a little. It walked silently to Old Wang's feet, tucked in its hands and lay down.

Not long after, Orange suddenly moved his nose and smelled the damp scent floating in the wind.

Orange was startled, stood up, and raised his paws to pull at Old Wang's clothes - it seemed like it was going to rain!
Wang Zhefu's sense of smell seemed to be less sensitive. He stretched out an old hand, gently touched Juzi's furry head, and praised: "Juzi is a good raccoon slave... Remember to accompany Deqing more."

A wind blew in the courtyard, a cool breeze that was not typical of the summer solstice.

Wang Zhefu finally slowly raised his head and looked at the gradually darkening sky.

"Grandpa, it's windy, let's go inside!" Mother Zhuo walked forward.

"No need, no need..." Wang Zhefu waved to Zhuo's mother, his old eyes full of hope.

Mother Zhuo knew that he was worried about the rain, so she didn't try to persuade him any further. She went back to the house to get a coat and put it on the old man.

The wind is getting stronger.

The noise at the entrance of the village was getting louder and louder.

The Taoist turned around, chanted a spell, pointed the peach wood sword to the sky, and a gust of wind blew up again. The villagers were excited: "It's going to rain! It's working... It's really working!"

The Taoist's movements became more and more vigorous.

A burst of muffled thunder rolled in from the sky.

In the study, Zhenyi, who was always focused, turned her head to look at the window frame that was creaking in the wind.

There were many empty seats in the school, and many girls did not come to class. Most of them were from official or wealthy families. The failure of two harvests would kill many poor people, but it would not leave their families without food. It was just that the famine made many people wander around, and their families were worried that they would have accidents on the road, so they did not allow them to go out to study.

At this moment, the wind was blowing hard outside, and the usually quiet classroom was also filled with the excited exclamations of girls. They whispered, "Look, is it going to rain?"

"--Snapped!"

The ruler hit the table with a loud noise. Madam Bu glanced at everyone with a serious look. When everyone immediately straightened themselves up, a figure suddenly stood up.

Everyone looked over subconsciously and were surprised to find that it was Zhen Yi who never made any mistakes.

Madam Bu looked at the girl who stood up.

"Teacher." Zhenyi suppressed her uneasiness and said softly, "I want to... go home."

At first glance, this seems like an inexplicably willful request.

Madam Bu did not blame or ask, but just nodded slightly: "Go back."

Zhenyi raised her hand and bowed deeply, then picked up the bookcase and left.

Zhenyi had never seen such a strong wind during the summer solstice. Dry dust and withered yellow grass clippings were swirling in the wind, and the sky and the earth were gray and yellow, making it almost impossible to open one's eyes.

Zhenyi, holding the bookcase, walked faster and faster until she was running towards home.

　It's on the shelves~Thank you everyone~
　
(End of this chapter)