For thirty years, he has roamed the Northeast, his divine might overwhelming all immortals under hea

Thirteen.

My dad suddenly spoke up.

"Um?"

"When your grandfather married your grandmother, all he had was a tattered quilt and two chipped bowls. In my generation, at least we had a chest and a cabinet. In your generation, we have a sewing machine, a bicycle, and a radio—everything we need."

He didn't continue, but just cracked his whip, and the ox quickened its pace.

I looked at the things in the car, then at Xiulian next to me, and for some reason, I felt a pang of sadness and a swelling in my heart.

By the time I got home, it was already getting dark.

As soon as the oxcart entered the yard, my mother came out to greet it, circled the cart three times, touching and looking at it, muttering to herself.

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

My dad took the sewing machine and bicycle off one by one and carried them into the house.

The sewing machine sat under the window of the east room, the bicycle leaned against the wall of the outer room, and the radio sat on the kang (a heated brick bed). Xiulian followed her in and out, a smile always on her face, a smile that overflowed from her heart.

My mother stewed a chicken for dinner, saying it was to celebrate.

While we were eating, the radio was on, playing a storytelling performance, Shan Tianfang's "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties," which was currently telling the story of Li Yuanba's hammer shaking Siping Mountain.

My father held his wine cup, listening with his eyes half-closed, taking sips every now and then. My mother pointed at him with her chopsticks.

"Listening to storytelling is more important than eating."

My father didn't say anything, but pushed the wine cup towards me.

"Thirteen, have a drink with your father."

I glanced at Xiulian, and she smiled with her lips pursed.

"Why are you looking at me? If you want to drink, then drink."

That cup of wine burned my throat.

I really can't enjoy this wine.

After dinner, I helped Xiulian clear the dishes.

A gust of wind picked up outside, making the window paper flap loudly.

My mother added some firewood to the stove, making the kang (a heated brick bed) warm.

It's definitely going to snow tonight.

My dad glanced outside.

The sky was overcast and gloomy.

He was right.

Not long after I lay down, I heard rustling sounds outside, like someone sweeping the yard with a broom.

I strained my ears to listen; it was the sound of snowflakes hitting the window paper.

The sound was initially sparse, but it gradually became denser and eventually turned into a soft, inaudible sound—that was the sound of heavy snowfall.

I turned over, unable to fall back asleep.

My mind raced through images like a movie: Xiulian picking out a sewing machine at the supply and marketing cooperative, my father holding the sewing machine like a baby, and Xiulian saying, "I want to bring my father's memorial tablet over." As I thought about it, I felt a mix of sweetness and bitterness, a feeling I couldn't quite describe.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard a noise from the outer room.

creak!

creak!

It looks like someone is walking in the snow outside.

I strained my ears, but the noise stopped again. After a while, it started again, this time closer, right under the window.

I sat up abruptly, my throat feeling like it was stuffed with cotton, and I couldn't make a sound.

"Thirteenth Brother?"

Xiulian called softly from the east room.

"You heard that too?"

I stepped onto the ground barefoot, and the moment my soles touched the ground, the cold made me shiver.

I put on my cotton shoes and coat in the dark, walked to the door of the outer room, and pushed the door open a crack.

Outside, everything was a blanket of white; the snow had piled up to half a foot deep. The yard was spotless, without a single footprint. Only the oak log my father had cut was half-buried in the snow, standing there dark and imposing.

I closed the door and was about to go back inside when I heard another sound coming from under the window.

creak.

This time, it was truly the sound of footsteps on snow.

I flung open the door and rushed into the snow. Snowflakes pelted my face, chilling me to the bone. I went around to the window, but there was nothing there. I looked back at my footprints, a deep trail leading all the way to the doorway.

But I clearly heard it, right here.

"Thirteenth Brother?"

Xiulian came out wearing a coat and stood at the door. Snow fell on her hair, turning it white in no time.

"Why did you come out? Go back inside, it's cold outside."

I walked back.

Xiulian didn't move, she just stared at me.

"Don't you... also feel that something's not right?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"What's wrong?"

Xiulian took two steps toward me, the snow covering the top of her cotton shoes.

"On the way back from the supply and marketing cooperative, I felt like someone was following us."

"Don't overthink it, go back inside."

I pulled Xiulian back, and when we reached the door, I inexplicably turned back and glanced at her.

The snow in the yard was clean and bare except for the footprints I had made.

But just as I turned to go inside, I heard it.

creak.

The sound was right behind me, so close it felt like someone was breathing against the back of my neck.

The next morning, I was woken up by my mother's shouting.

"My goodness, this snow must be at least a foot deep!"

I opened my eyes; the frost on the windowpane was so thick that no light could get in.

I got up, covered the hole with my hand, and made two small holes. I looked out.

Good heavens, the yard is blindingly white; that oak tree is almost buried in snow.

Xiulian got up too and was folding quilts in the east room. I asked her through the door.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Um."

She responded with a sound of agreement, paused for a moment, and then said...

"Thirteenth Brother, that commotion last night... did it continue?"

I froze for a moment.

"That's all. You weren't asleep either?"

Xiulian remained silent.

My mother called from the outer room.

"You two lazybones, get up! The snow's blocking the door, come out and shovel it!"

Xiulian and I got dressed and came out. My father had already cleared a path outside. He was wearing his old military overcoat and a dog-skin hat, his breath steaming in the air as he flicked snow to both sides with his shovels.

"Father, let me do it."

I took the shovel and got to work. The snow was very light; when I flung it out, it scattered into a white mist. Xiulian swept the corners and edges with a broom, but suddenly stopped.

"Thirteenth Brother, let's build a snowman."

I glanced at her; her face was red from the cold, and her eyes were bright and sparkling, just like a child's.

"Okay."

My mother heard it from inside the house and called out through the window.

"How old are you, still building a snowman!"

But she was smiling.

Xiulian and I piled the snow together, first rolling a big snowball for the body, then a small one for the head. Xiulian found two pieces of charcoal from the stove pit and used them to make the snowman's eyes. Then she took a carrot and stuck it on the head for the nose.

"We're missing hats."

She ran back into the house, found a tattered straw hat that my father no longer wore, and put it on the snowman's head. The hat was too big; it slipped down and covered the snowman's entire head, making it look like he was wearing a giant straw hat.

I was laughing so hard, and Xiulian was laughing too. But then she suddenly stopped laughing and stared blankly at the courtyard gate.

"What's wrong?"

"Was there someone standing at the gate just now?"

I looked in the direction she was looking, and the courtyard gate was empty except for snow.

"You must be seeing things."

"Maybe."

We continued building the snowman. I found two sorghum stalks and used them as arms. Xiulian took off her scarf and wrapped it around the snowman's neck. The snowman, with its straw hat askew, charcoal eyes, and carrot nose, stood there looking rather silly.

Xiulian took two steps back and examined the area, then suddenly glanced at the courtyard gate again.

I saw it too this time.

There seemed to be a shallow mark on the snow near the gate of the courtyard, like a footprint, but it had been almost completely filled in by snow.

I felt a little uneasy, but I didn't say anything.

Back inside, my mother had already set the table: cornmeal porridge, pickled vegetable dumplings, and the leftover chicken from yesterday, which she had heated up. Xiulian didn't say much during the meal, and I was also preoccupied with my own thoughts.

The snow started falling again outside sometime ago, this time it was fine snowflakes, rustling against the window.

After dinner, I squatted by the door and smoked a cigarette. The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and the world was a vast expanse of white, making it impossible to see anything. The snowman was still poking around in the yard, its straw hat covered in snow, making it look like an old man with white hair.

Just then, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.

"Bang bang bang!"

Three taps, neither too light nor too heavy.

I stood up, walked to the courtyard gate, and opened it.

There's nothing outside.

The snow was still falling, and there wasn't a single footprint on the ground. I looked around, and the village road was deserted; there wasn't a soul in sight.

I closed the door and walked back, but after a few steps, there was another knock.

"Bang bang bang!"

This time I heard it clearly; it was right on the door panel.

I rushed over in three steps and yanked the door open.

There's still nothing there.

The snowflakes stung my face.

I stood at the door for a long time, staring at the ground. The snow was fresh and smooth as a white cloth. There wasn't a single footprint, not even a bird's claw mark.

I closed the door, and this time I didn't go back; I just stood behind the door and waited.

After waiting for about the time it takes to smoke a pipe, the knocking on the door came again.

"Bang bang bang!"

This time I didn't rush to open the door.

I stood behind the door, my heart pounding in my throat.

The wind outside seeped in through the cracks in the door, icy cold, like knives scraping my face. My hands, gripping the door latch, were sweaty and sticky.

After waiting for a long time, there was still no movement outside.

I took a deep breath and flung the door open.

The vast expanse of white snow was eerily quiet.

The snowflakes were still falling, fine and dense, feeling cool on my face. The courtyard gate was deserted, not a soul in sight.

I glanced at the ground.

The snow was fresh, smooth and even, like freshly fluffed cotton.

But right outside the threshold, less than a foot from my feet, lay an envelope.

Bright red, it's quite eye-catching compared to the snow.

There wasn't a speck of snow on the envelope; it looked as if it had just been placed there.

I paused for a moment, then bent down and picked it up.

There was nothing written on the envelope, but it felt bulging inside; there was something there.

I glanced back into the house and saw Xiulian looking this way. I waved to her, closed the door, and stood in the snow to tear open the envelope.

There was only one piece of paper inside, folded neatly into a square.

When I opened it, my mind went blank, and I felt like someone had poured ice shards all over me.

There was only one line of text on the paper, written with a fountain pen in blue-black ink, the handwriting was neat and tidy:

"Li Shisan, do you think this is the end of it?"

The signature was three characters: Zhu Shouyi.

My hand trembled, and the letter almost fell into the snow.

Zhu Shouyi.

Which Zhu Shouyi?

I stood in the snow, the wind whipping snowflakes against my face, but I didn't feel cold; it was as if all the blood in my body had frozen.

Zhu Shouyi.

I buried this person myself.

What happened?

Could it be that someone is deliberately sabotaging this?

But if someone deliberately sabotaged it, there should be footprints on the snow, but at a glance, there are no footprints at all.

What did he want from me? What do you mean by "that's the end of it"? What do I have to do with him? We have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Could it be that the dead person has come back to life?

The wind blew snowflakes into my neck, making me shiver.

I then realized that I had been standing in the snow for quite some time. My cotton-padded coat was covered in a layer of white, and the snow under my feet had melted, soaking the tops of my cotton-padded shoes.

I folded the letter and tucked it into my coat pocket. The letter felt cool against my chest, like holding a block of ice.

As I pushed open the door and entered the room, Xiulian came to greet me, staring at my face.

"Thirteenth Brother, why is your face so pale?"

I touched my face; it was ice-cold.

"It's nothing, it's cold outside."

Who knocked on the door just now?

"Nobody's here, it's windy."

Xiulian glanced at me, her eyes holding a strange look, but she didn't ask any more questions.

My mother called from the outer room.

"Thirteen, now that the snow has stopped, you need to go up on the roof and sweep it, lest the roof collapse!"

"Why."

I responded and sat down on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), taking off my cotton shoes.

My feet were frozen red, and I covered them with my hands, but my heart was colder than my feet.

Xiulian brought over a bowl of hot water and handed it to me. I held the bowl, but didn't drink it. I could feel the steam seeping into my palm through the bowl.

I stared at the water in the bowl, my face reflected on the surface, blurry and indistinct.

"Xiulian".

"Um?"

"You said yesterday that you felt someone was following us on the way back?"

Xiulian paused for a moment, then nodded.

"I felt that way the whole way after leaving the supply and marketing cooperative. But when I looked back, there was nothing there."

I didn't say anything.

Xiulian moved closer to me and lowered her voice.

"Thirteenth Brother, are you hiding something from me?"

I looked up at her; her eyes were bright, filled with worry and fear. I opened my mouth, wanting to say it was nothing, but the words stuck in my throat.

I touched the letter in my arms; the paper was still there, pressed against my chest, cold.

"It's alright."

"It's snowing heavily outside, don't go out."

Xiulian glanced at me and didn't ask any more questions, but her eyes clearly showed disbelief.

I won't tell Xiulian.

Xiulian knew something about Zhu Shouyi's affairs; in fact, she was one of the parties involved.

If I told her that I had a letter in my arms, signed by Zhu Shouyi, that I had sent it.

Wouldn't she be terrified?

I can't sleep tonight.

But this letter suddenly appeared, and what does it mean?

Could it be that he wants revenge?

No, no, no, rather than believing that, I'd rather believe that someone is deliberately playing tricks.

"Thirteen, it doesn't seem like the snow is going to stop. Go up to the roof with your father and clear the snow away."

My mother called me again, and I responded immediately.

"I understand, Mother. I can go by myself."

I quickly put on my clothes and shoes and headed outside.

He subconsciously touched the envelope in his pocket.

"Thirteenth Brother, are you really alright?"

I looked at Xiulian, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"No, what could possibly be wrong?"