Pan Zi and Lei Zi had once boasted to Li Zhuiyuan that even when certain starlets were fully dressed, they could still picture them completely naked in their minds.
Right now, looking at Ding Dalin and Secretary Jin standing before him in the flesh, all Li Zhuiyuan could picture was the two of them flayed alive, nothing but leaping masses of raw, bloody muscle.
It was a bright summer morning, bathed in brilliant sunshine, yet a sudden chill made him want to shiver.
Ding Dalin bent down, a kindly smile on his face, and asked with mild confusion, "What's wrong? Don't recognize me anymore?"
Li Sanjiang laughed. "How could that be? The boy was just talking about you a moment ago. He said you..."
Li Zhuiyuan's spine went instantly cold with terror.
Yet the words were already on Li Sanjiang's lips, impossible to stop.
"...He said you gave him such a fat red envelope last time, praising what a great grandpa you are!"
"Oh, did he? Ha ha ha ha." Ding Dalin let out a hearty laugh.
Li Zhuiyuan's head swam, a dizzying wave of relief washing through him like surviving a brush with death.
Li Sanjiang stroked Li Zhuiyuan's head. "This boy of mine remembers anyone who treats him well. Not like other brats—no matter how good you are to them, they turn around and forget you in a blink, not even knowing who you are."
Ding Dalin nodded. "It depends on the person."
"You bet. Some kids are just born white-eyed wolves. You can never raise them right."
"Sanjiang Hou." Ding Dalin straightened up, shifting his gaze from the boy to Li Sanjiang. "Come on over to my place and sit for a while. Have lunch with me today."
"How could I impose like that?"
"What imposition? There are plenty of leftovers from yesterday's banquet. Don't look down on it—come help me finish it off."
A banquet always left behind excess food that spoiled quickly in the heat. If a household was small and couldn't finish it in time, they would often host a couple of smaller tables the following day, inviting only close relatives to help clear the plates.
Such meals lacked formalities: cold dishes piled together, cooked dishes reheated. They didn't look pretty, but the food and wine were still good.
Li Sanjiang said, "If it's for lunch, isn't it a bit too early to head over now?"
Li Zhuiyuan finally managed to get his facial expression under control, ensuring his voice wouldn't tremble. But just as he was about to make an excuse for his great-grandfather to decline the invitation, he looked up and met Secretary Jin's eyes.
She was looking at him with a slight smile on her lips, but her eyes held a hollow, icy gleam.
An ordinary person would never notice it, but Li Zhuiyuan had long possessed the habit of observing and mimicking others, and after reading the *Detailed Exposition of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*, his grasp of micro-expressions had grown even keener.
The mental ramparts he had just rebuilt threatened to collapse once more.
She hadn't spoken, and it was entirely possible he was imagining things, yet he genuinely felt he was looking at a silent warning.
Was it directed at him? Or at his great-grandfather?
Or perhaps...
Directed at anyone who might see through their skins?
"It's like this," Ding Dalin said. "I want to contract some responsibility land. I'll pay the lease upfront in a single lump sum, but it has to be held under your name."
"How much land?"
"A dozen or so mu."
"For how long?"
"Thirty years."
"Then I definitely have to go!"
Ding Dalin chuckled in mock scolding. "Well, well, Sanjiang Hou, you're dead certain I won't live that long, aren't you?"
"Thirty years! How could anyone live that long? At our age, if we lived another thirty years, even our skin would crack and peel right off!"
"Haha, we're already this old. It's not like we're youngsters who need to worry about our looks. If the skin breaks, so be it—a bit of stitching and patching, and it'll work just the same."
Li Zhuiyuan's heart gave a violent thump.
He was genuinely terrified that his great-grandfather might slip up and say something that provoked their skins into tearing open.
Though he knew his great-grandfather had fortune on his side, Grandma Liu had also said that fortune depended on the place and the circumstances. When confronted with something truly formidable, sheer fortune wouldn't help.
The horror of what had occurred at Big Beard's house last night had already surpassed Li Zhuiyuan's wildest imagination.
What he was experiencing right now pushed last night's events into a realm far more bizarre and terrifying.
Faced with this kind of situation, Li Zhuiyuan felt his great-grandfather's fortune... definitely wouldn't hold out.
"All right, let's go," Li Sanjiang said, rubbing his chin as he looked down at Li Zhuiyuan beside him. "While we're at it, I might as well draw up my will too."
"Oh? Sanjiang Hou, you're an old bachelor with neither son nor daughter. Who are you planning to leave it to?"
"I might not have sons or daughters, but I have a great-grandson, don't I? After I'm gone, whatever I leave behind naturally goes to our Little Yuan Hou."
Ding Dalin bent down toward the boy once more.
Li Zhuiyuan felt an intense revulsion and resistance toward the gesture, yet he still forced a bashful smile onto his face.
For a child, such an expression was remarkably practical—whether dealing with people... or with ghosts.
"Little Yuan Hou, see that? Your great-grandfather truly cherishes you. When you grow up, you must treat him well, you hear?"
"Yes, I will."
Ding Dalin began to straighten up, but his movement suddenly hitched.
Secretary Jin reached out to support him.
Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Secretary Jin's right hand was pressed against the back of Ding Dalin's neck while her left hand gripped the side of his lower back. She wasn't just supporting him with her palms; she was clutching him, her five fingers tensed with immense force.
It looked as though she were forcibly squeezing back together something that was splitting open.
"What is it, Lin Hou?"
"This old back of mine is giving out."
"Tumble around less in bed at night, then!"
"You old rascal, Sanjiang Hou. Come on, let's head to my place."
With that, Ding Dalin extended a hand toward Li Sanjiang.
Li Sanjiang took it, stepping in to support him instead.
The two old men walked forward side by side, chatting as they went.
"Shall we go, little brother?" Secretary Jin placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"My summer homework isn't..."
"Your great-grandfather wants to make a will for you, so you must come along today."
"...I haven't bought an eraser yet. I lost my old one somewhere."
"Come on, Auntie will buy one for you."
"No need, I have money."
The path to Big Beard's house happened to pass Aunt Zhang's convenience store. As they approached, Secretary Jin stopped in her tracks.
Li Zhuiyuan walked up to the counter, preparing to ask for an eraser to get by, when a figure bounded out from behind the shop's awning. It was Tan Wenbin.
The fellow had taken a shortcut, skipping the village road to cut across the field ridges.
"Yo, Brother Yuan, what are you buying? Here, let me pay for it."
"An eraser."
"Auntie, give us an eraser, and a bottle of Fengyoujing cooling oil."
Aunt Zhang handed the items over. Tan Wenbin paid the money, handed the eraser to Li Zhuiyuan, and immediately unscrewed the bottle to dab the oil onto his neck and arms.
"Seeing how badly you guys were itching last night made me start itching all over today too. I bet Runsheng passed it to me."
"Brother Binbin, head back home. Tell Brother Runsheng and Grandma Liu that Great-Grandpa and I are going to Grandpa Ding's house for lunch."
"What? You still want to go to the wa—oh, oh, oh!"
Li Zhuiyuan had grabbed Tan Wenbin's hand, pinching the flesh of his palm with his fingertips and twisting hard.
Just then, Secretary Jin, who had been standing at a distance, walked over.
Tan Wenbin had emerged from behind the shop and hadn't noticed she was nearby. Startled, he continued his shout:
"...Oh, oh, oh!"
Secretary Jin drew closer.
"...You want water, right? I'll buy it for you, your brother's treating! Auntie, two cans of Jianlibao!" As he spoke, Tan Wenbin deliberately glanced at Secretary Jin. "Sister, do you want one?"
Secretary Jin shook her head.
"Hehe." Tan Wenbin paid again and handed a can of Jianlibao to Li Zhuiyuan.
"Thanks, Brother Binbin. You head on back then. Don't forget to tell the folks at home that Great-Grandpa and I won't be back for lunch, so they don't need to cook for us."
"Got it."
Right then, Secretary Jin spoke up: "Come eat with us."
Tan Wenbin froze for a second.
Secretary Jin added, "I saw you enjoying the banquet dishes yesterday. There's plenty left today. Come join us."
"That wouldn't be right..."
"Come along, let's walk together. They're getting ahead of us."
Secretary Jin rested a hand on the shoulder of each boy, one older and one younger, urging them forward.
It was an attitude that brooked no refusal.
Li Zhuiyuan had never imagined Tan Wenbin's dining manners yesterday would leave such a deep impression. Had he shown even a shred of decorum at the banquet, they might not be in this mess right now.
Still, it seemed Tan Wenbin only knew the initial information about the water monkeys.
That was what Li Zhuiyuan had told him before heading to Big Beard's house with Runsheng last night.
After they returned, Tan Wenbin had wanted to know what happened, but Li Zhuiyuan hadn't felt like reliving or recounting it then, telling him to ask Runsheng instead.
Runsheng, likely sharing the same reluctance to bring up that horrifying scene, must not have had time to tell him either.
Otherwise, had he known, seeing Secretary Jin would have sent him leaping in terror as if a double-bang firecracker had gone off in his pants.
As they walked, Secretary Jin asked, "Are there still people at your home? Tell them to come over for lunch too, so they don't have to cook."
Li Zhuiyuan hurried to refuse: "No need, the only ones left are workers helping my great-grandfather. They aren't relatives."
"All right then."
Over the rest of the walk, Tan Wenbin loosened up, even taking the initiative to chat.
Li Zhuiyuan figured Binbin was probably feeling rather proud of himself. Thinking of himself as a policeman's son blessed with inherited counter-surveillance instincts, he was chatting and laughing in front of a water monkey.
In truth, that wasn't a bad thing; being able to act without showing fear was useful.
They walked all the way to Big Beard's front door. The moment they stepped onto the courtyard, Li Zhuiyuan's gaze froze.
Directly before the courtyard was the fish pond. Right now, it was brimming with water, looking exactly as it had yesterday during the day.
The fish pond that should have been drained and excavated was completely restored.
The people who should have died flayed alive were all living once more.
The scene in his memory felt logically closer and closer to a hallucinatory nightmare.
When the world presented itself in a way that defied reason, people typically began by doubting themselves.
Yet Li Zhuiyuan was certain it had been no dream. What had happened last night was utterly real.
The pond must have been backfilled and refilled with water during the night. The dead were truly dead; as for what these living beings before him actually were... he couldn't fathom.
The village head and several village elders had arrived, sitting on long benches in a circle in the courtyard, chatting away.
Secretary Jin brought over a small coffee table laden with melon seeds, peanuts, and candies.
Li Sanjiang casually grabbed two handfuls, handing one to Li Zhuiyuan and the other to Tan Wenbin.
Ding Dalin said to them, "Go upstairs and watch TV. There's one in the room. We'll call you down when it's time to eat."
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "We have a TV at home. Great-Grandpa bought one."
Li Sanjiang puffed out his chest, saying proudly, "That's right! I bought a TV for the boy. But he loves studying and doesn't watch much on ordinary days, so the mule at home gets the treat of watching it all day long."
In truth, Li Zhuiyuan didn't want to leave the group.
Although stepping into this place meant danger, and all these old men tied together wouldn't be of any real help, they at least offered a modicum of psychological comfort.
Emotion had plunged him into dread from the moment he saw the two of them, but reason told him the situation was not entirely beyond salvage.
After all, neither his group nor the village head had been flayed the moment they arrived.
If they had only intended to lure people here to kill them, they could have acted just now.
The fact that they could sit here chatting, genuinely discussing the specifics of leasing the land, proved they had their own purposes and plans.
As long as they didn't violate their rules, he, his great-grandfather, and Binbin might still make it back safely.
The village head spoke up with some hesitation: "Still, leasing it for thirty years all at once... wouldn't that be too long? It won't be easy to explain to the villagers."
Ding Dalin replied, "The rent can increase annually. Just give me a final concrete figure."
Li Sanjiang was very enthusiastic about the matter. He believed Ding Dalin wouldn't live that long, nor would he himself, so wouldn't the leased land end up belonging to Little Yuan Hou in the end?
"I say, if the man wants thirty years, let him have thirty years! Worst case, the village can post the contract publicly for everyone to see. Once folks know, no one will gossip."
Secretary Jin had already gone inside, presumably to prepare lunch. Since only she and Ding Dalin lived here, she had to handle it all alone.
With Ding Dalin's attention shifting away from him, Li Zhuiyuan felt considerably relieved.
He didn't dare leave on his own; any out-of-line behavior would be exceedingly dangerous right now.
If pushed too far, they might just flay everyone present. Since they could bring the opera troupe back to life, bringing the village head back should be just as simple, without delaying the land lease.
Ensuring he remained within their sight, Li Zhuiyuan stepped down from the courtyard and began pacing in circles on the open ground in front of the fish pond.
He knew he couldn't keep circling forever, or he would look foolish.
At a time like this, playing a game would be the most natural cover. The problem was, he never carried children's toys in his pockets.
Fortunately, though he had none, someone else did.
Tan Wenbin seemed to understand Brother Yuan's intention. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of colorful marbles.
"Xiao Yuan, let's play this!"
"Okay!"
For the first time, Li Zhuiyuan realized that childishness could be a godsend.
A boy about to enter his third year of high school actually had marbles in his pockets. No wonder his dad still bought him jelly snacks.
The two bent down and started shooting marbles.
Li Zhuiyuan had originally only wanted an excuse to observe the fish pond up close. He believed that no matter how flawless the restoration, only half a day had passed, and traces were bound to remain.
Yet as they played, Tan Wenbin genuinely got into it. He hit his mark every time, clapping and cheering for himself with delight.
The commotion occasionally caught the attention of the old men on the courtyard.
They pointed and chuckled fondly.
Most children had similar experiences: whenever they played with companions, adults would often stand nearby, watching them for a long time.
What the adults were really looking at was their own lost youth.
Yet Li Zhuiyuan had no desire to cultivate such a heartwarming atmosphere. Finally unable to take it anymore, he flicked a marble straight into Binbin's nose.
Binbin clutched his nose in sudden pain. Then a look of realization dawned in his eyes, followed by embarrassment—he had gotten far too deep into his role.
Li Zhuiyuan began deliberately shooting marbles toward the fish pond, and Tan Wenbin coordinated, aiming in that direction too. Chasing the marbles, the two reached the edge of the pond.
Seizing the moment, Li Zhuiyuan quickly swept his gaze across the ground.
He spotted it: around the perimeter of the pond, the earth was freshly turned.
The fish pond really had been backfilled!
Not daring to linger in such a sensitive spot, Li Zhuiyuan immediately shot a marble back in the other direction, moving away from the water.
"Haha, Brother Binbin, I won this round!"
"Xiao Yuan, you're really good!"
Binbin wore the grin of a proud older brother.
Leaping up in feigned excitement, Li Zhuiyuan stole a glance toward the courtyard and caught Ding Dalin turning his head back away.
Had his approach to the pond made him suspicious?
After that, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin played closer and closer to the courtyard.
"Brother Binbin, I'm tired. Let's take a break."
"Sure."
Without caring about the dirt and gravel, Li Zhuiyuan sat right down on the ground.
As the sole of his shoe brushed against the gravel, it overturned several pebbles. Beneath them, a patch of red appeared—blood.
Li Zhuiyuan hastily pulled his foot back, kicking the pebbles back over with his shoe.
His mind raced through the details of last night. Wasn't this exact spot where Ding Dalin had been pecked by the rooster?
He remembered that Ding Dalin's palm had been pecked straight through.
"Little Yuan Hou!"
"Coming, Great-Grandpa!"
Li Zhuiyuan ran up to the courtyard and stopped before Li Sanjiang.
The discussion about the land lease was mostly settled, and they were now talking about the will. The village head was writing it down with pen and paper.
An elder nearby asked, "Sanjiang Hou, is it really proper to give everything straight to the child? You still need someone dependable to take care of you in your old age."
"I've arranged for my care."
"Are they dependable?"
"Dependable."
They were all getting on in years; there was no need to avoid such topics.
Li Sanjiang trusted Li Weihan's character completely, but Li Weihan had many sons and grandsons. If his estate went to Li Weihan, it would most likely end up divided among those ungrateful wolves, which he refused to let happen.
The village head finished writing and said, "Since the parties and witnesses are all here, let's press our thumbprints right now. Is there any ink paste in the house?"
Ding Dalin said, "It's in the nightstand drawer in the second-floor bedroom. I'll go get it."
"Just let the boy go. Little Yuan Hou, go bring it down."
Li Zhuiyuan wanted to refuse, but Ding Dalin had already sat back down. Resisting now would look unnatural.
"Right away, Great-Grandpa!"
Li Zhuiyuan dashed inside and bounded up the stairs. Tan Wenbin wanted to follow, but Li Sanjiang called him back:
"Zhuangzhuang!"
"Uncle Li, my name is Binbin."
"Go to the kitchen and help carry out the dishes. The little secretary can't manage on her own."
Tan Wenbin had no desire to be alone with that water monkey either, but trapped in the same bind Li Zhuiyuan had just faced, he could only nod with a smile and head toward the kitchen.
Reaching the second floor, Li Zhuiyuan found it had been cleaned and tidied up, the balcony corridor spotless.
Instead of rushing into the bedroom, he went beneath the small skylight hatch. Beside the wall stood a ladder.
His formation flags and Runsheng's corpse-retrieval gear should still be on the roof.
The problem was that even if he moved the ladder and climbed up to retrieve them, he couldn't carry them away—they were too heavy.
Throwing them behind the house wouldn't be safe either; the noise would easily give him away.
In the end, Li Zhuiyuan turned around, pushed open the door, and entered the bedroom.
The bedroom was well furnished. When Ding Dalin bought the house, he must have purchased it along with the furniture to save time.
Walking over to the nightstand, he opened the drawer.
Inside was indeed a box of ink paste, along with something else Li Zhuiyuan hadn't expected—a luopan.
It was a purple luopan, its central dial surrounded by five small sub-dials.
Li Zhuiyuan picked it up and gently turned it, quickly deciphering the meaning of the five sub-dials.
*Zhengdao Fumo Lu* actually recorded a similar style of luopan, but because the crafting process was extraordinarily complex and required many rare materials, Li Zhuiyuan hadn't even considered making one before.
Holding it now, he genuinely loved it.
With this, reading feng shui configurations would be like bringing a calculator into a math exam.
He was realizing more and more that he couldn't keep relying on sheer mental calculation as he had in the past; his body simply couldn't take the strain.
With this tool, combined with the *Liu Clan Qi-Gazing Formula*, reading the pond's feng shui like he had last time wouldn't exhaust him to the point of nosebleeds.
The real Ding Dalin was already dead, making this an ownerless object. Taking it wouldn't count as stealing.
Still... it was too risky.
The water monkeys had packed and cleared away their other belongings, yet this item had been left behind, proving it was valued.
They must know who had entered the house. If it went missing, they would definitely trace it to him.
Forget it. He couldn't take it.
As good as the thing was, his life was more important. Just as Li Zhuiyuan was about to put the luopan back into the drawer,
"Did you find it?"
Secretary Jin's voice came from the bedroom doorway.
Li Zhuiyuan was startled once again, but his composure held. Holding the luopan in his left hand, he picked up the box of ink paste with his right.
"Yes, I found it."
"I thought you couldn't find it, so I came up to check."
"What is this, Auntie Jin?" Li Zhuiyuan asked, holding up the luopan. "It looks so pretty."
"Just a toy. If you like it, you can have it."
Li Zhuiyuan's first reaction was not joy, but suspicion: *Is this a test?*
"Take both and come on down."
With that, Secretary Jin turned and left.
After a moment's hesitation, Li Zhuiyuan took both the luopan and the ink paste downstairs.
Handing the ink paste to the village head, the man gestured for everyone to press their thumbprints.
Seeing the luopan, Li Sanjiang asked, "Little Yuan Hou, what's that?"
Ding Dalin spoke up: "Just a little trinket from the house. The boy liked it, so I gave it to him as a toy."
Li Sanjiang took it first, turning it over and examining it with a frown. "Why are there so many circles? What kind of junk is this?"
Having disparaged it, Li Sanjiang tossed the luopan carelessly to Li Zhuiyuan.
Li Zhuiyuan badly wanted to remind his great-grandfather that this was a professional tool, whereas the one he usually carried was nothing more than a toy compass.
"Little Yuan Hou, say thank you to your Grandpa Ding."
"Thank you, Grandpa Ding."
"Haha, good boy." Ding Dalin reached out and patted Li Zhuiyuan's head.
Li Zhuiyuan felt his hairs stand on end, yet he had to endure it without daring to pull away.
The will was completed in duplicate. The village head kept one copy to store in the village office, while Li Sanjiang carefully folded the other, reverently tucking it into his breast pocket and patting it secure.
Lunch was ready, and everyone took their seats.
The spread was lavish. In front of Li Zhuiyuan sat a large plate of boiled shrimp.
The sight of them turned his stomach.
"Dig in, everyone! Please excuse the simple spread," Ding Dalin said, raising his chopsticks to urge them on.
The others picked up their chopsticks as well.
"Here, Zhuangzhuang, eat some shrimp. This was your favorite yesterday."
Li Sanjiang used his chopsticks to sweep a third of the plate directly in front of Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin, then gave the lazy Susan a turn.
Tan Wenbin didn't hold back. Grabbing a shrimp, he twisted off the head, peeled it open, dipped it in vinegar, and sucked on it before deftly peeling the shell away to reveal the plump meat.
After removing the vein, Tan Wenbin dipped the meat in vinegar and dropped it into Li Zhuiyuan's bowl.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up his chopsticks and lifted the shrimp. The meat was tender and reddish.
He popped it into his mouth. As he chewed, images of what he had witnessed last night kept surfacing in his mind.
It was the first time Li Zhuiyuan had ever tasted food that was both delicious and sickeningly difficult to swallow.
In the end, he forced himself to gulp it down, feeling it was even more agonizing than eating the "dishes" at the Cat-Faced Old Woman's birthday banquet.
Seeing Tan Wenbin about to peel another for him, Li Zhuiyuan hurriedly said, "Brother Binbin, eat them yourself. I don't really like shrimp."
"Really?" Tan Wenbin looked puzzled. "Then I'll eat them myself."
"Yeah."
Secretary Jin brought over a large bowl containing a stewed chicken.
Ding Dalin poked it twice with his chopsticks and asked, "Not an old hen?"
"There weren't any old hens left."
"Sigh, how can that do?"
Ding Dalin shook his head in dissatisfaction.
Li Sanjiang smoothed things over. "Lin Hou, look at you, getting so pampered. A chicken is a chicken, what does it matter if it's a rooster or a hen? Before the liberation, getting a single bite of meat wasn't easy!"
Saying so, Li Sanjiang reached in with his bare hands, tore off a plump drumstick, and dropped it into Li Zhuiyuan's bowl.
Li Zhuiyuan stared down at it, hesitating to touch it with his chopsticks. He wasn't being picky; rather, the chicken looked suspiciously familiar.
Even if it were a rooster stew, how could it not have a single scrap of skin on it?
"What's wrong? Don't like it?" Ding Dalin asked.
"I like it." Li Zhuiyuan picked up the drumstick and took a large bite. It was a bit tough.
"How does it taste?"
"Delicious."
Ding Dalin nodded in satisfaction. As he stood up to reach for food, Li Zhuiyuan noticed a black gauze bandage wrapped around the web between his right thumb and forefinger.
The meal proceeded warmly and harmoniously, so normal that Li Zhuiyuan began to feel as though he were the only abnormal person at the table.
Yet no matter what, Li Zhuiyuan uncharacteristically did not leave the table early as children often did, remaining seated politely until the end.
After lunch, the men began smoking and chatting, going through the usual preamble before parting ways.
The village head stood up first, lightly patting his trousers. "Well, that's all for today. That lease contract will need to be discussed by the village committee. Rest assured, we'll give you an answer soon."
"All right, thank you for your trouble," Ding Dalin said, standing to shake hands with the village head.
Everyone rose and walked out of the hall into the courtyard. After sharing cigarettes and exchanging a few more words, the village head and the elders headed down the slope.
Li Zhuiyuan grew anxious because Li Sanjiang hadn't moved. He was still standing beside Ding Dalin, cigarettes dangling from both their mouths.
"I didn't want to ask in front of the village head just now, but if you're leasing this land and not growing grain, why do you plan on planting peach trees?"
"Yes, peach trees. They bear peaches."
"You won't be able to sell peaches—who'd buy them? In the past, canning factories would take them, but I hear those factories aren't doing so well themselves these days."
"Even if they don't sell, looking at the peach blossoms is nice enough."
"Say, Lin Hou, what's gotten into you?" Li Sanjiang reached out and touched Ding Dalin's forehead. "How come you feel like a completely different person today?"
Li Zhuiyuan's heart seized once more.
Tan Wenbin stepped in to add his own part, saying proactively, "Uncle Li, you don't understand. Grandpa Ding is pursuing an artistic mood! Yes, just thinking about peach trees filling this whole place and blossoming... how beautiful that will be!"
"And what about this fish pond?" Li Sanjiang asked.
"Fill it in and plant trees there too."
"I say, Lin Hou, just how much wealth did you make abroad that you can squander it like this?"
"Isn't money made to be squandered?"
"I can't make head or tail of you. Whatever, do as you please."
"Oh, right. The opera troupe said one of their sound systems broke and wanted me to cover the repair fee. I didn't feel like haggling, so I just paid to buy it off them second-hand."
"Are you an idiot? Where did you find that troupe? Their own gear breaks and they have the nerve to ask the host for money?"
"It was pretty cheap anyway. I tinkered with it last night—it wasn't actually broken, just a loose connection in the plug. It's fixed now. I have no use for it, but don't you run a business? You can rent it out to make some money later. Come take a look with me. If it's good, you can haul it away."
"All right, let's take a look."
Li Sanjiang followed Ding Dalin toward a shaded inner room on the ground floor. Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin exchanged glances, wondering whether they should follow.
"Little boy, you forgot to take this." Secretary Jin's voice sounded behind them as she held the purple luopan out to the boy.
He had deliberately left it on the chair by the dining table earlier so as not to appear too eager.
Li Zhuiyuan took it, acting pleasantly surprised. "Are you really giving it to me?"
"Do you know how to play with this?"
"Of course I do!"
Li Zhuiyuan held the luopan, spinning around in circles and giggling foolishly as he watched the needle whirl.
"Secretary Jin, come over here and adjust it a bit!" Ding Dalin's voice drifted out from the inner room.
Secretary Jin rested both hands on Li Zhuiyuan's shoulders. "Come, let's go take a look."
The moment the woman's hands landed on his shoulders, Li Zhuiyuan froze.
Instead of moving right away, he slowly lifted his head.
Secretary Jin looked down at the same time, their eyes locking.
After a long silence, Ding Dalin's urging voice came from within once more: "Why aren't you here yet? We're waiting on you!"
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Li Zhuiyuan walked in front, while Secretary Jin walked behind him, her hands gripping his shoulders.
The distance was clearly very short, yet Li Zhuiyuan felt it stretched on endlessly.
In the end, the two entered the inner room one after the other.
Secretary Jin released her grip, adjusted the sound system, and picked up the microphone:
"Hoo, hoo... testing, testing... one, two..."
The sound cracked slightly, but overall it worked quite well.
Ding Dalin glanced at Li Sanjiang, then turned to Secretary Jin. "Come, sing a song to test it out."
Secretary Jin nodded. "What song should I sing?"
"Anything! Sanjiang Hou, what do you want to hear? My secretary knows plenty of songs, just name one."
"Hah, my skin isn't thick enough to request songs from a young lady. Little Yuan Hou, what song do you want to hear? You pick."
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "Anything is fine with me."
Secretary Jin looked at Li Zhuiyuan. "Little boy, you choose one."
"There's nothing I especially want to hear. Auntie, just sing whatever you'd like to sing."
Secretary Jin nodded. Holding the microphone, without any musical accompaniment, she began to sing a cappella:
"*Looking back gently on the evening that once belonged to us,*
*You are still the fiery sun glowing in my heart...*"
Her voice was tender and graceful. Though her Cantonese was imperfect, it was remarkably pleasant to hear.
It was "Thousands of Songs."
Chapter 40