The Nightmare Experience of a Useless Person

"Now that you've chosen to stay, can you tell me your name?" Jiang Zhiyang asked patiently, insisting that the deity was a runaway young lady.

"I have no name, God has no name, if you..."

Jiang Zhiyang reacted quickly, gently covering the god's face with his large hand.

"Don't let the children hear this nonsense at Lok Sin Tong. Do you really not have a name?"

The deity nodded, as if rubbing his face in Jiang Zhiyang's hands. His palms were large, warm, and carried a faint scent of soap after washing.

"If you keep doing this, I might actually start believing it. Anyway, let's give you a name first. Children from Lok Sin Tong are different from ordinary people. If you keep talking about ghosts and gods, people will think you're crazy. So don't talk about gods and ghosts anymore, understand?"

The deity nodded, and Jiang Zhiyang finally felt relieved and put his hand down.

"Should I be a flower too?"

"Flowers?" Jiang Zhiyang tilted his head in confusion, but for no reason found her words extremely cute.

"Yes, Ali is a pear blossom, Xuanxuan is a daylily, and Xiaotao is a peach blossom. If I were to be a flower, I wouldn't want to be a chrysanthemum, because the chrysanthemums in the yard don't bloom well. I wouldn't want a spider lily either, even though it blooms quite nicely..."

The deity counted on her fingers, explaining her thoughts one by one. Jiang Zhiyang didn't interrupt, just watched her move her pink little mouth like a rabbit eating grass, which was really cute.

It wasn't until the old yellow dog in the backyard barked twice that the deity was startled. He looked up and bumped into a pool of rippling spring water. Jiang Zhiyang's eyes were glazed over, with early spring algae floating in the water and warm mist rising from it.

What are you doing?

Their eyes met for a second, too close, as if they were pressing against each other's chests to spy on her thoughts. Jiang Zhiyang was startled and trembled, like a cat falling into the water and shaking off the floating algae.

"It's Ah Lang! Old Jiang is back. Come on! Let Old Jiang give you a name."

He turned his head away, hiding his burning ears in the darkness. The chilling night wind caressed his trembling skin, as if teasing his boyish thoughts.

Even when he stood in front of Chiang Kai-shek, the blush of embarrassment had not yet faded from the corners of his eyes, making him look like a bullied young husband.

Old Jiang understood everything at a glance, and Aunt Dong understood it perfectly as well.

"Old Jiang, this... the girl has decided to stay at Leshantang, but she..." Jiang Zhiyang raised his left hand and pointed to his head, "You should give her a name, a nice name."

Old Jiang was indeed very old. He raised his head, and a few strands of gray hair slipped from his loose bun, stretching out the wrinkles on his neck. But his eyes were young, clear, bright, and sharp.

His gaze swept over Jiang Zhiyang, lingered on the girl to the side, and then he gave a humble smile.

Old Jiang helped Aunt Dong to her feet and then bowed respectfully. It was a court etiquette that Jiang Zhiyang didn't quite understand, but he knew that he had never seen him perform such a bow more than a few times in his life.

Even the usually lazy Ah Lang got up, lowered his head, and circled around the goddess's skirt twice.

"Young lady, you are pure and virtuous, a true gentleman. If you would like a common name, how about Qingjun?"

Qingjun, that sounds nice.

"Thank you, sir." The deity returned the greeting and then bent down to pat Ah Lang's head.

"Just be a Qingjun, why put on this show?" Jiang Zhiyang scratched his head awkwardly, pulled the deity behind him, and kicked Ah Lang away.

"You're so unruly!" Old Jiang picked up a calligraphy brush and slammed it down, but Jiang Zhiyang caught it squarely.

"So what if I'm being unserious?" Jiang Zhiyang pouted, but lowered his voice by nine-tenths as he respectfully handed the calligraphy brush back.

"Alright, Lao Jiang has been busy for days. Let me help him wash up. Zhiyang, Qingjun, let's go eat." Aunt Dong's expression was as gentle as ever, but the wooden comb in her hand held a bit more force, as if she were accusing Lao Jiang of arguing with the children.

It was already dinnertime, but Jiang Zhiyang did not invite Qingjun to the table. Instead, he had her sit alone under the peach tree.

"Qing...jun..." he called out hoarsely, seemingly a little shy, "You can eat here, don't come to the table, they're making a ruckus and like to grab things."

Jiang Zhiyang handed over a bowl of hot porridge, with side dishes already mixed in: green vegetables, radishes, and dried pumpkin, emitting an enticing aroma.

"Thank you." Qingjun took the small bowl and ate it bite by bite. The warm soup slid down her esophagus and into her empty stomach, stirring up a wave of warmth.

The old yellow dog, its fur tanned color, also came from the backyard, rubbed against Qingjun, and then lay down on her pink embroidered shoes. No matter how Jiang Zhiyang pushed it, it didn't budge.

"Why is Ah Lang called 'Tu Gou'?" Qingjun put down the porridge in her hand and gently stroked Ah Lang's head.

"Because it's too cowardly!" Jiang Zhiyang glared at A Lang. "Old Jiang always encounters some scoundrels when he goes out to see patients alone. It would be safer to bring a dog along, but this dog is really useless. It's timid and hesitant even when it goes out. So Aunt Dong named it A Lang to give it courage."

Ah Lang howled twice in annoyance, as if protesting against Jiang Zhiyang's defamation of it.

"Good dog, good dog." Qingjun rubbed Alang's head, and it beamed with joy.

"Turn off your dog face, you're drooling." Jiang Zhiyang poked Ah Lang's butt, but it was too happy to respond to Jiang Zhiyang's interruption.

"This is outrageous! Everyone loves to bully me!" Jiang Zhiyang roared to the sky, took off one shoe and slapped the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Great! Qingjun's attention finally shifted from the annoying dog to the childish man. But as soon as Qingjun looked up at him, Jiang Zhiyang awkwardly touched his nose, obediently put on his shoes, and sat up straight.

He raised his head and looked around seriously, clearly showing his flushed cheeks.

"Still saying you're not my sister-in-law? Look at yourself, acting like a little man." A young woman carrying a book moved closer and whispered in Jiang Zhiyang's ear.

"You have no manners!" The cloth shoes, covered in dirt, moved from his feet to Jiang Zhiyang's hands, becoming his most handy weapon.

Qingjun remembered this girl. She was quiet, loved reading, and had a beautiful head of thick, black hair. This was the first time Qingjun had seen her speak to someone.

The girl made a face at Jiang Zhiyang, then took half a steamed bun from her bosom, stuffed it into Qingjun's hand, and walked away with a strange smile.

Jiang Zhiyang suppressed his embarrassment and told Qingjun to ignore her. "This girl is called Xiulian. She usually smiles terribly whenever she sees two people getting close. She's acting up again because we're sitting close together. Don't be afraid. She acts like this even when Jiang Shuo and I are sitting close together."

"Is this also an illness?" Qingjun's voice was gentle and soft, and Jiang Zhiyang always listened very carefully.

Jiang Zhiyang understood Qingjun's meaning. Just as he said, everyone in Leshantang was mentally ill. "Xiulian is five years younger than me, but she has already been married three times."

"Every time she went back to her husband's home, she refused to let any man touch her. She always said that her sweetheart was in a book and that one day he would come to pick her up. If any man got close, she would bang her head against the wall and hurt herself. Everyone said she was crazy."

Jiang Zhiyang's voice grew lower and lower, and the straw between his fingers was twisted into several pieces. His eyes were blank, and the corners of his eyes drooped. Qingjun recognized him now; this was his serious look. She could also hear the concern hidden beneath his cold words.

"Actually, she's doing great! Everyone is too, and we'll all be fine."