Eternal madness

Chapter 22 Knocking on the Door in the Middle of the Night (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

He Shengjun asked Zhang Laifu to guard the old house, which made Lin Shaocong very angry.

Lin Shao Cong scolded him a couple of times, and He Sheng Jun was also unhappy: "Young Master, you asked me to find him a job, but it can't be in our mansion, it can't be too close to the mansion, and it can't be allowed to run around on the street. Do you think it's easy to find such a place?"

Now that I've found him a job, you think it's unsuitable. Isn't this job putting me in a very difficult position?

Lin Shao Cong angrily said, "I asked you to find him a job, not to send him to his death. Over the years, no one who has spent the night in the old house has ever come out standing up. They've all disappeared without a trace. Aren't you trying to kill him?"

“He deserved to die!” He Shengjun’s tone changed. “Young Master, you are destined for great things. When will you change this soft-hearted habit?”
You know perfectly well how wicked this man is. If it weren't for your prior orders, I would have killed him myself!

Lin Shao Cong pursed his lips and remained silent.

He Shengjun realized he had raised his voice, so he softened his tone and continued, "Young Master, with such a large family like the Lin family, who else can you trust? Don't you trust me to handle things?"
I know you don't kill those who have shared hardships with you. Sending him to the mansion isn't exactly killing him. If he doesn't make it, that's his own fault; how can you blame us?

Lin Shao Cong sighed and said nothing more.

It's not that there's nothing to say, it's that there's no way to say it.

He Shengjun hit the nail on the head: in the entire Lin family, only He Shengjun could do things for Lin Shao Cong.

In other words, Lin Shaocong has to accept whatever He Shengjun has done, no matter how it turned out.

……

Zhang Laifu cooked some cabbage and rice for himself, ate a hearty meal, carried a roll of straw mat from the storeroom, and prepared to sleep.

We definitely won't go to those outbuildings in the front yard; those buildings are of very poor construction quality and might collapse at any time.

The backyard buildings are of slightly better quality, but the terrain is a bit complicated. The swing set is rotten and could fall and injure someone if it collapses. The yard is overgrown with weeds and you can't see the path at all. If you go to the toilet in the middle of the night, you might fall into the pond.

The main house is the best built, with a hall on the outside and bedrooms on the inside. The roof tiles of the bedrooms are still intact, at least enough to keep out the wind and snow.

The only inconvenience is that there's a water cart blocking the entrance, but that's not a big deal; we can just move it.

Zhang Laifu pulled up the two handles of the wheelbarrow, but before the wheels even moved, the two water tanks on top started clanging and rattling incessantly.

Why is this waterwheel making such a big noise?
Such a commotion may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Zhang Laifu left the waterwheel at the door.

If anyone tries to enter, Zhang Laifu will definitely hear them as soon as they touch the waterwheel; it's even more effective than an alarm.

Zhang Laifu settled into the inner room. He Shengjun prepared several cotton-padded coats for him. The coats were several sizes too big, but they fit perfectly as blankets, keeping him warm and cozy.

Tomorrow, Zhang Laifu plans to go to Zhuzi Street to return the one silver dollar he owes Li Yunsheng, and he'll even give him an extra dollar as an apology.

Give me one more dollar, and I'll have to pay back the tuition fees from before.

Give me another dollar, and see if I can learn more about opening bowls.

Give me another dollar, and I'll ask where I can find a skilled craftsman.

Will He Shengjun come to check up on me tomorrow?

probably not.

The fact that this place is in such a dilapidated state shows that the Lin family doesn't really care about this residence. It's dozens of miles to go back and forth, so they probably wouldn't bother to make the trip...

It was already dark, probably around eight or nine o'clock. Zhang Laifu tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and took out the white hat to examine it closely.

From the outside, this hat doesn't look particularly special. Li Yunsheng once said that when it encounters suitable soil, the bowl will respond. What kind of soil would be suitable?

Is it possible that it's just ordinary soil?
Zhang Laifu took some mud and sand from the yard and put it into his hat. After waiting for a while, the hat did not react at all.

It's probably not mud or sand.

The words "clothes" and "hats" are always used together. Why not try using "clothes" instead?

Zhang Laifu went to the women's room in the backyard, found a pair of scissors, cut off a piece from his dirty robe, and put it inside his hat.

There was still no response.

Li Yunsheng once said that seemingly unrelated things could also turn to dust, and since they were just sitting idle anyway, Zhang Laifu wanted to see what else in the yard he could try.

He went up into the cellar, picked a handful of cabbage leaves, and put them in his hat, but there was no reaction.

I plucked another handful of radish greens, but there was still no reaction.

I put some rice in, but it still didn't work.

Li Yunsheng seems to have mentioned things like iron filings and sawdust.

The pillars of the eaves were made of wood. Zhang Laifu took a kitchen knife and was about to scrape off some wood shavings, but then he thought that he was a house lookout, and it didn't seem appropriate to look for wood directly from the house.

The water truck was made of wood. Even if the old house was renovated, the water truck would definitely be useless. Zhang Laifu took a knife and scraped the water tank a couple of times.

Clang!

This water tank was not only noisy, but also extremely hard. Zhang Laifu scraped at it for a long time, even dulling the blade of his kitchen knife, and only managed to scrape off a small amount of sawdust. He put the sawdust in his top hat and waited for a long time, but nothing happened.

These sawdust pieces were hard-won, so Zhang Laifu didn't want to throw them away. He put them in his pocket and then went to the backyard to gather some needles and thread, which he put in his hat, but there was still no reaction.

I walked around the front yard, the back yard, and the side yard, but the hat remained unchanged.

Hey hat guy, you're so inconsiderate! Just tell me what you like!

Back in the main courtyard, Zhang Laifu was about to give up, but as he walked to the door of the side room on the east side of the main house, the hat seemed to move slightly in his hand.

Why was it moved? Is there suitable soil here?

Hey hat guy, what do you see? Is there anything you like?

There are two side rooms on the east and west sides of the main house in the main courtyard. The side room on the west is the study, and the side room on the east is the ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall is used to enshrine the ancestral tablets, so why would this top hat resonate with the ancestral hall?

Squeak~
Zhang Laifu pushed open the door to the ancestral hall, and as soon as he stepped one foot over the threshold, the top hat in his hand moved again.

This time the movement was more obvious; Zhang Laifu watched as the brim of his hat curled upwards.

The hat's strong reaction led Zhang Laifu to a bold guess.

This top hat was likely made by one of the Lin family's ancestors, or perhaps it has a deep connection with one of their ancestors.

There must be some special object in this ancestral hall that can awaken this top hat.

Where can this object be found?

Zhang Laifu, holding the brim of his hat, cautiously probed the ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall had long been emptied of its ancestral tablets, leaving only a pile of miscellaneous items and an offering table.

The table was covered in dust, very fine dust.

Zhang Laifu gently wiped the dust off the table, and his hat began to tremble violently.

Why does the hat react so strongly to this table?
Perhaps it's possible that this hat was left on a table for a long time back then, or perhaps the table and the hat shared the same owner.

Or to put it more directly, this table is the perfect soil for this hat!

But how can a table turn into dirt?
How can such a big table fit inside a hat?
Zhang Laifu scraped some sawdust and put it into the hat, but the hat didn't change anything.

How about we cut off a table leg and put it in?
Is there an essential difference between table legs and sawdust?

Is there any other way?

After repeated research, Zhang Laifu found a solution to turn the table into soil.

Burn this table, turn it to ashes, put it in your hat, and it'll become dirt, won't it?

A table doesn't cost much; we can compensate the Lin family with a new one. But burning it in the ancestral hall is definitely inappropriate; it might set the house on fire. It should be burned in the courtyard.

“Ancestor Lin, please don’t be offended. I’m just here to work. I have no grudge against you. I’m just borrowing your table for a while. After I finish this, I’ll pay for a new table myself and put it back in the ancestral hall.”

Just as Zhang Laifu was about to move the table, he suddenly remembered something.

On Fangpai Mountain, the chief, Yuan Kuilong, wanted to open the bowl on the spot. Old Song once said that once the bowl was opened, it couldn't be stopped. They had to wait until they found good seeds before they could open the bowl again.

Zhang Laifu has no seeds on hand right now. If he succeeds in opening the bowl, but has nothing to plant, wouldn't the bowl be wasted?
Where can I find someone with such excellent skills?
Boom!Boom!Boom!
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door.

The Lin family's old house is very large, with two courtyards separating the front gate from the main house, so ordinary knocking sounds are not heard at all.

Zhang Laifu could hear it clearly now, proving that the other party knocked on the door with great force, probably enough to smash the door panel.

Bang!Bang!Bang!
In the dead of night, in a desolate old house in the mountains, who would knock on the door at this hour?

He Shengjun has arrived?
He just left and came back to check on things?

Just as Zhang Laifu was about to leave the ancestral hall, he suddenly heard a sound outside the door.

Clang!

Someone touched that old waterwheel.

Touching the water cart proves that someone has arrived at the main house door.

They were just outside the house a moment ago, and now they're at the main gate. This person walks way too fast!

P.S.: Dear readers, I'll be adding an extra chapter at midnight tonight. It'll be quiet and no one will notice, so this extra chapter shouldn't affect the new book's release period.

All the monthly votes for November went to Laifu, so we can all enjoy the good fortune together. Thank you all, Salad.

(End of this chapter)