The Nightmare Experience of a Useless Person

Chapter 12 The Golden Flower of the Refugees

The two children chatted for a long time through the window, one after the other.

"Then why are your mom and dad—oh, no, your father and mother—allowed to go out?"

"They're going to plant flowers. The flowers in the field are very important; they can't afford to make any mistakes."

"More important than human life?"

"Of course, you're too stupid not to know this."

Jiang Zhiyang was stunned for a second after being attacked by a child, and the image of Yu Qingjun's eye-rolling attack flashed through his mind.

"You're so dense, fine, I'll tell you then." Xiao Qingjun cleared her throat dramatically and raised her voice a few decibels.

"The villagers were all refugees fleeing war in a neighboring country. They had been traveling for a very long time, dragging their families along, and finally arrived in a new kingdom before the cold wave hit. Here, the kind-hearted king took in these poor souls. However, the poor people had no money, no clothes, and no food. Later, the kind king gave birth to a beautiful princess, but the princess was weak and often ill. The king then instructed the villagers to plant a 'Sun-Turning Lotus' to pray for the princess's well-being. The tiny seeds blossomed into golden flowers, which grew across the fields. One acre of golden flowers yielded one ounce of gold, and the princess enjoyed health and longevity. From then on, the poor people had gold, clothes, and food. To find out what happens next, stay tuned for the next chapter—"

Hearing this, Jiang Zhiyang was both amazed by Xiao Qingjun's eloquence and couldn't help but chuckle, "Who taught you this?"

"The storyteller at the market."

"Can you recite it?"

"Of course, that's all the storyteller knows, and all the children in the village can tell it." Xiao Qingjun raised her head, full of pride.

"I'm not going to say anything more. It seems your parents are back." Seeing the two figures walking in the distance, Jiang Zhiyang, having done it before, flipped over the fence.

Unable to meet with Yu Qingjun for the time being, Jiang Zhiyang could only wander around the village. He seemed to be surprisingly good at this—eavesdropping somewhere.

This village is not very big, with only three or four rows of houses. It is backed by green mountains and has a stream in front. The surrounding area is flat, the land is fertile, and flowers are everywhere, making it a very livable place.

Perhaps because of the epidemic, the streets were deserted, with only occasional passersby hurrying back with some food. Yet, people from every household were heading to the flower fields. Were these flowers more important than human lives? After hearing Yu Qingjun's story, Jiang Zhiyang initially felt that these sunflowers, meant for blessings, were quite humane. But now, everyone was planting flowers despite the epidemic, adding a touch of bloodshed to those vibrant blossoms.

Although the weather was sunny, the village was always gloomy. It was said that the Guanyin Weeping ...

As he was pondering this, he saw several families simply cover the corpses with white sheets and leave them in their courtyards. Blood and tears bloomed like red flowers on the white sheets. If he looked any longer, a gentle breeze would lift the white sheets, revealing bloodless toes underneath. Jiang Zhiyang felt his soul almost leave his body.

He swallowed hard, almost spitting it out.

Jiang Zhiyang also found the "storyteller" that Yu Qingjun mentioned. He was sitting under the withered old elm tree, leaning on a wooden cane, muttering to himself.

After getting tired of exploring the village, Jiang Zhiyang sat down next to the storyteller, as he seemed to be the only one he could possibly talk to.

"Aren't you afraid of getting sick sitting here?"

The old man raised an eyebrow slightly, lowered his head, squinted, and looked Jiang Zhiyang up and down. Then he gave a kind smile. "I'm already this old, I don't have many days left to live. But you, aren't you afraid of death?"

"It's not like we're really going to die, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Yes, it's just a dream. Once you die, you can just open your eyes and be done with it.

"What?"

"It's nothing." Jiang Zhiyang pulled back from the brink and quickly shut his mouth.

Seeing that Jiang Zhiyang remained silent, the old man quickly lost interest and muttered to himself as he gazed at the paper money being swept up by the wind in the distance.

"The children from the well have returned, they've returned!"

"well?"

"Listen to me, my daughter is inside too, she's coming back." The old man whispered in Jiang Zhiyang's ear, his eyes fixed on his wooden cane.

"What a strange person," Jiang Zhiyang thought, and tried to avoid them.

"That year, I went to the neighboring village to sell books. Everyone said there were many scholars in the neighboring village, and someone would definitely want to buy my books. But I squatted on the street for a whole day, and not a single person stopped. That day, I realized that there were so many styles of shoes. They were dangling in front of me, but I didn't dare to look up at them. When it got dark, I carried my book basket home, but the mountain road was too slippery, and I fell and broke my leg. When I got home at night, my daughter was born. I was furious and cursed that bitch, how could she not give birth to a son! If I had a son, I could get an extra acre of land, an extra tael of gold, and write another book. My talent would be recognized! I was angry! I was frustrated! I held my injured leg and asked my older brother to take my daughter away."

The old man choked back sobs, two streams of tears sliding down his deep wrinkles and dripping into the mud, turning into tiny specks of mud under his feet.

"My wife, dragging her wounds, crawled slowly to the well, but the baby had already turned into a pile of flesh and blood. She cried out towards the well all night long, and the next day she went back to her parents' home alone and never came back."

As if he were heartbroken to the extreme, he kept pounding his chest with his fists, and his cloudy tears flowed into his dry mouth, tasting salty.

"It's my fault, it's my fault for being young and impetuous, it's my fault for being useless, it's my fault for not valuing my child's life..."

Just by listening to his confession, Jiang Zhiyang had already silently judged him as a sinner in his heart. A sinner does not need forgiveness, much less deserve comfort.

Suddenly, the man's two old eyes widened, and his withered fingers dug into Jiang Zhiyang's arm, gripping him painfully.

"But now she's back, she's back! They're all back! Back with punishment! These people, and me, we all have to die!"

The screams, bursting forth with all the strength of his life, shattered in Jiang Zhiyang's ears, startling him so much that he struggled with all his might to escape from the strange old man's vine-like restraints.

Jiang Zhiyang was several meters away with each step, and he had to get away from this strange old man as quickly as possible, as his eardrums were almost ruptured by the noise.

He turned around and looked into the distance. The old man looked like a branch of a withered tree, deeply rooted in the decaying soil, about to wither and die.

"Serves you right," Jiang Zhiyang spat.

But he was still shaken and dared not linger. He wandered around and eventually returned to the yard full of hydrangeas. He squatted at the gate every day, occasionally going to the mountains to pick some wild fruits and vegetables to eat. After a few days, he became very pale and thin.

Persistence pays off. Finally, when Xiao Qingjun was home alone, Jiang Zhiyang, like a thief, opened the door and entered the house.

"How did you get in here!" Xiao Qingjun grabbed a broom and shoved it at Jiang Zhiyang's face.

"I'm so hungry, do you have anything else to eat?"

Looking at Jiang Zhiyang's thin face, Xiao Qingjun lowered her guard. "You seem to have lost a lot of weight."

Hungry Jiang Zhiyang finally got half a steamed bun. He held the other half in Xiao Qingjun's hand. "I can only give you half. There isn't much food at home. I can't give you the portions that Dad and Mom have. I can only share half of mine with you."

"That's enough, thank you." Actually, whether he gets food or not is not important. After all, his goal is that chubby little face. He wants to kiss it, complete the mission, and then he can have as much feast as he wants after returning to reality.

"My ten thousand yuan!"

He quietly moved closer to Xiao Qingjun, one step, then two.

"What are you doing!"

"Nothing, nothing."

Even though Yu Qingjun had shrunk, she was still quick-witted. For every two steps Jiang Zhiyang took closer, she would take three steps back.

One step, two steps, three steps... It's about to succeed!

"Hey, what are you doing in my house, little girl!"

Jiang Zhiyang's heart almost bleeds!

"Father, she's not a little girl." Xiao Qingjun's voice became even sweeter when she spoke to her father.

"You little brat!"

"Hmm..." Jiang Zhiyang responded nervously in a low voice.

"What are you doing?!" True to their family nature, the tall man picked up a broom and was about to shove it into Jiang Zhiyang's face.