Chapter 8

Liu Yumei had said her granddaughter wasn't ordinary autism, and now Li Zhuiyuan believed it. "Uncle Sanjiang, Uncle Sanjiang!" Behind him, Niu Fu's voice and footsteps were drawing closer, and the girl's gaze continued to follow him. He couldn't keep staring... Li Zhuiyuan walked toward the girl, stopped four meters from the threshold, then shifted sideways two steps, using his body to block the girl's view of Niu Fu. Actually, it would be simpler to walk up to the girl and cover her eyes with both hands, but he didn't dare. Grandma Liu's earlier warning was certainly not groundless, and besides, there was Li Sanjiang's bloody lesson. Li Zhuiyuan noticed the girl's eyelashes were trembling slightly. He didn't know whether it was because of the approach of this stranger, or because of what she "saw." But the girl didn't turn to try to get around his block and keep looking; instead, she returned her head to its previous position, gazing straight ahead. She had frozen again. Li Zhuiyuan breathed a sigh of relief; he had truly been afraid she might suddenly lunge at him and bite him. But now it was his first time being this close to her. Her retro outfit really suited her; one could say they complemented each other perfectly. She sat there as if he were the intruder, breaking into her era, her separate villa. Liu Yumei came over then, lightly placing her hand on Li Zhuiyuan's shoulder, and said softly, "Little Yuan, Grandma reminded you not to get too close to A-Liang." "I remember, Grandma." Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the threshold ahead. "I won't move forward anymore." Perhaps the earlier contact had left Liu Yumei with a good impression of the boy, and she couldn't help teasing, "So, is my A-Liang pretty?" "Mm, she's pretty, as you say." "Hehehe..." Liu Yumei was amused and laughed. She walked into the house and glanced at the six-tiered wooden shelf in the inner room, covered with spirit tablets—those on the left bore the surname Liu, those on the right Qin. She picked up an empty small dish, selected several pastries from the offering tray below, turned, and came out, handing the small dish to Li Zhuiyuan: "Come, Grandma treats you to a snack." "Thank you, Grandma." Li Zhuiyuan reached out and took it. "They're clean, taken from the offering tray." "Mm." Li Zhuiyuan didn't disdain it. He picked up a flaky pastry, took a bite, and found it soft and delicate in the mouth, with a rich aftertaste. Liu Yumei asked, "Is it sweet?" Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "Tasty, not sweet." Liu Yumei sat on the threshold and looked at Li Zhuiyuan. "When is your mom coming to take you back to the capital?" "Whenever my mom has time." "Do you miss your mom?" "I do." "Miss her? I can't tell." "I miss her in my heart." "You're a steady child. Do you have brothers or sisters?" "I'm my parents' only child." "Our A-Liang is an only child too." Liu Yumei said, looking at the girl, her eyes full of love. She made a motion to raise her hand, as if wanting to touch her granddaughter's head, but drew it back. "Grandma Liu, where are you from?" "My ancestors were boatmen on the river; we have no ancestral home. But if we must speak of it, this Yangtze River is the ancestral home of my grandfather and me." Mentioning Qin Liang's grandfather, a trace of longing appeared on Liu Yumei's face. Then, with that expression, she looked at Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan understood and asked, "Grandma and Grandpa's relationship was very good, right?" "At first it wasn't good at all; our two families were like sworn enemies. Later, that shameless bastard of his took a fancy to me and insisted on marrying me, infuriating my father and brothers—they almost tied him up and sank him in the river, and the two families almost came to blows again." Seeing Liu Yumei was still reminiscing, Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Then what happened?" "Later, well, I was tricked into it, married him, and bore him children." "Did your family accept Grandpa?" "Mm, they accepted him, and they all sank in the river together." Speaking to this point, Liu Yumei suddenly came back to herself. Why had she said all this? "So, Little Yuan, why did your parents divorce?" After asking, Liu Yumei regretted it. How could she ask a child that? "Because they couldn't live together anymore." "Was it your father's fault?" "Dad loved Mom very much." At that moment, Niu Fu's voice came from behind in the distance: "All right, Uncle Sanjiang, it's settled then. I'm leaving; wait for me at home." Li Zhuiyuan was a little surprised. So soon? He glanced back secretly and saw Niu Fu, now at the edge of the courtyard, still severely hunched over. Li Zhuiyuan breathed a sigh of relief, but he still went to find Li Sanjiang right away. "Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandpa." "What is it?" Hearing the call, Li Sanjiang didn't stop but walked straight to the toilet, undid his trousers and sat on the dragon chair. The shorter Li Zhuiyuan stood below, lacking only a horsetail whisk. Actually, Li Sanjiang's toilet was fairly well-built, located behind the new house, out of sight. In the village, many other families' toilets were attached to the main house, facing the village path. Sitting there during the day with people coming and going was like receiving an audience of officials. If they met someone they knew, they'd greet them and stop to chat. "Great-Grandpa, you promised him?" "Yeah, what's wrong?" "He has... something on his back..." "Great-Grandpa knows. I wasn't planning to go, but he doubled the tribute money, and for all three siblings together, so I had to go. Heh heh, it's just too much." "But it's dangerous..." "Little Yuanhou, money makes the ghost turn the mill. Danger is relative to insufficient money. Watch—Blind Liu will definitely go too." "Great-Grandpa..." "Little Yuanhou, your Great-Grandpa makes his living this way. Besides, it's fine. Great-Grandpa has seen plenty of storms and has never capsized a boat." "When are you going?" "That depends on when Blind Liu sets the date, but it should be soon. We need to go ahead. Your grandfather Han Hou just came to bring you clothes and said everyone will soon be organized to dredge the river." "Dredge the river?" "Yeah, digging the river. A decades-old tradition—able-bodied men from ten li and eight villages... no, from all over rural Jiangsu basically have to go. So we need to finish the posthumous birthday rites before the river dredging." ..."The posthumous birthday rites need to be done before the river dredging, or the family won't have peace." Niu Fu walked not far from Li Sanjiang's house and stood under a tree by the small river, one hand bracing the tree and the other untying his belt, preparing to relieve himself. After finishing and tying his belt, he inexplicably felt his back had straightened a little, and he even bounced in place. Looking back at Li Sanjiang's house not far away, Niu Fu couldn't help but feel moved: "It seems Uncle Sanjiang, like Granny Liu, is also effective!" ...Li Zhuiyuan walked into the house and saw Auntie Liu coloring paper effigies. She smiled and waved at him: "Little Yuan, want to come play?" "No thanks, Auntie Liu. I have something to do now." "All right, take care of your business first." Auntie Liu laughed. She thought the boy's serious demeanor was truly adorable. Li Zhuiyuan carefully moved aside a paper house blocking the stairway, went downstairs, and saw a rusty iron door. A pair of cloth shoes lay on the ground by the door. Li Zhuiyuan bent down, found a key inside one, stuck it in the lock, opened it, pushed the door inward, and a musty, dust-sealed smell immediately surged out. It was pitch black inside. Li Zhuiyuan reached out, feeling along the wall near the door, and finally found a rope. He pulled down. Click. No response. He pulled two more times. Snap! The light didn't come on; the rope broke. No choice; Li Zhuiyuan had to run back upstairs and found a flashlight in a drawer of the cabinet by the door. He unscrewed the back cover; it was empty, but fortunately batteries were also in the drawer. He inserted two large D-cell batteries, screwed the cover back on, tested it—it lit up. He returned to the basement and shone the light inside. The space wasn't large, not dug out under the full area of the first floor, but there were many things, neatly sorted and orderly. It seemed Great-Grandpa had indeed arranged it carefully back then, but it had indeed been years since anyone came down; a thick layer of dust covered everything. Li Zhuiyuan walked to a shelf, and his gaze was first drawn to a peach wood sword. He picked it up and blew on it; dust flew up. "Cough... cough cough..." After coughing, Li Zhuiyuan held the flashlight and carefully examined the sword. It was carved with all sorts of indecipherable patterns, had some reflective metal pieces attached, and also some seal script characters. In short, the design was very antique, and the content was rich. Li Zhuiyuan appreciated it carefully and intently until he shone the flashlight on the bottom of the sword's handle and read the characters aloud: "Shandong Linyi Furniture Factory." Li Zhuiyuan: "..." He put down the peach wood sword and picked up a copper coin sword beside it. This time he learned his lesson—he checked the handle first, then the side of the blade, confirming there was no manufacturer's statement before carefully examining the sword body. "Kangxi Tongbao, Qianlong Tongbao, Jiaqing Tongbao..." Although the coins weren't ancient, they should be genuine. But as Li Zhuiyuan continued to shine the flashlight carefully, he suddenly found other things mixed in, differing greatly in size from the coins. He tried to pick at them with his fingers but couldn't get them off, so he continued searching other parts of the sword body, and soon found more of the same size. This time he saw clearly... They were actually many 1-cent and 5-cent coins! The sword's exterior used ancient coins, but the inside was all modern coins, and not even a 10-cent piece could be found. Although fen coins were also coins... you couldn't call them fake, but mixed in like this, Li Zhuiyuan felt something was off in his heart. He put the copper coin sword back and continued searching. He saw two large banners—no, judging by their long, narrow shape, they should be called funerary banners. The two funerary banners occupied a large area of the counter. One was entirely black, the other purple. The black one was embroidered with many skulls and flood dragons, looking full of evil energy; the purple one was embroidered with many flowers, birds, and golden dragons, looking full of righteous energy. Li Zhuiyuan tried to take one down but found he couldn't lift it with one hand, so he leaned his body closer to the counter, brought the flashlight near, and continued searching carefully. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he felt he should be able to find it. Sure enough, on the wooden handle of the black banner, Li Zhuiyuan found a line of crooked brush-written characters: Li Family Funeral Team. It wasn't even traditional characters, but simplified characters. Li Zhuiyuan recalled that at Big Beard's funeral earlier, Little Oriole's funeral troupe had also brought out many ritual implements, those things were counted by the bundle, and after the funeral they were all packed up and thrown onto the truck. Soon, on the purple banner Li Zhuiyuan also found characters; this time they were traditional characters, but with an added line: "Xue Family Funeral Troupe: grab the wrong one and your son will have no asshole." Li Zhuiyuan sighed and pulled the banner back. The anticipation and excitement he'd felt when he first came in had gradually faded; now he felt increasingly calm. Great-Grandpa hadn't lied to him; he had indeed collected a bunch of... junk. When he was little, his mother often took him to her workplace. Back then, cultural relic protection wasn't as strict as now; many relics didn't even have glass cases, and you could even touch them up close. So Li Zhuiyuan had observed many ritual implements up close—the solemnity of Buddhism, the antiquity of Daoism, the mystery of Tibetan Buddhism. Previously, seeing so many in abundance, he'd even grown tired of them, but no matter what, these in front couldn't compare. At least... they didn't have labels. Yes, on the next few Taoist robes, Li Zhuiyuan saw labels, even with sizes marked. On the back of that bright yellow Taoist robe, there was an unstuck label reading: For Production Crew Use Only. Li Zhuiyuan also found three large baskets of talisman paper. He picked one up and looked carefully; the texture was smooth, he couldn't understand the patterns, but could tell they were written in one go, very beautifully. This made him feel interested, and he flipped through other talismans, finding many varieties. But soon Li Zhuiyuan noticed something wrong. When he placed two talismans of the same type side by side, he couldn't distinguish any difference; even the stopping-brush gap at the bottom corner was identical. So... they were printed? Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyes; his eyes were sore from looking. He even suspected Great-Grandpa had originally planned to form a funeral troupe, and with the tables, chairs, bowls, and paper effigies upstairs, it made a complete funeral industry chain. No longer looking at those objects, Li Zhuiyuan walked to the innermost area, where more than ten chests were placed. He remembered Great-Grandpa saying these were stored here for others, and inside were all books. "Hmm?" Li Zhuiyuan bent down and shone the flashlight on the chests, examining them carefully. The material... was almost exactly like the one at Grandpa Zhou's house in the family compound, the one collected by the grandfather who liked collecting. That time, Grandpa Zhou was so excited about acquiring a chest that he immediately called an old friend over to show off, and Li Zhuiyuan was called over for tea. Right before him, there were three chests like this. The other chests, though different in material and color, were of good quality after Li Zhuiyuan examined them. A little anticipation rose in Li Zhuiyuan's heart. What was in such valuable chests? Surely not books from a publisher? Moreover, a state-run publisher in the past couldn't have published something like Jinshaluo Wenjing, after all it was feudal superstition. Traces of seals remained on the chests, probably torn off long ago. Originally there were locks, but they had been pried off. Li Zhuiyuan felt Great-Grandpa must have done it. So were they really stored here for others by Great-Grandpa? Even unlocked, Li Zhuiyuan had to struggle to push the chest lid open. When he finally opened it and shone the flashlight inside, he immediately took a deep breath. Books, books, books—all books! And they weren't printed; from the covers, one could tell they were handwritten. At school, several sets of textbooks were rotated every semester, but he only found them interesting the first time he flipped through. Now, he finally experienced the happiness of being surrounded by books. He picked up several books in succession, looked at the covers, and found they were all "Jianghu Zhiguai Lu," divided into many volumes. The "rivers and lakes" here weren't martial arts; they were real rivers and lakes. Li Zhuiyuan held the flashlight and opened Volume 1, discovering not only text but illustrations; one drawing depicted a person standing and walking in the water. This book actually described dead-flippers? This wasn't the place to read. After closing the book, Li Zhuiyuan searched in the chest for a while and finally gathered the whole set. "Jianghu Zhiguai Lu," totaling forty-two volumes. The number of volumes was a bit much, but understandable—after all, they were handwritten with a brush, in large characters. Li Zhuiyuan decided to read this set first. It should be something like an encyclopedia specifically describing strange beings in rivers and lakes, an introductory text. He didn't open the other chests; he wanted to keep some sense of anticipation. Next, Li Zhuiyuan began working as a book porter; after three trips, he finally moved the complete set of "Jianghu Zhiguai Lu" to his room on the second floor. He also re-locked the basement door, not leaving the key in the cloth shoes but carrying it on his person. "Little Yuanhou." Li Sanjiang's voice came from outside. "Little Yuanhou, come out quickly." Li Zhuiyuan opened the door and came out. "Yo... did this kid just go roll around in the mud?" "Great-Grandpa, I'll go bathe and change clothes right now." "Don't rush, look at this first, heh heh. Come, Li Hou, set it here. Let's place them side by side, me and my grandson." "All right." Uncle Qin came carrying a rattan chair. Warmth rose in Li Zhuiyuan's heart. He had told Great-Grandpa yesterday that he wanted a rattan chair, and Great-Grandpa had actually bought one today. "Great-Grandpa, I also want a desk lamp." The bulb in the room wasn't bright enough—fine for lighting at night, but difficult for reading. Li Zhuiyuan saw there was a kerosene lamp at home, but there was no need to suffer unnecessarily. "You want a desk lamp, to read books?" "Mm." "All right, Li Hou, go to town again and buy the kid a desk lamp. Buy more pens and notebooks too. I saw the other kids have those... what do you call them... pencil cases... never mind, buy whatever you think is enough." "All right, I'll go after the meal." "Not this afternoon; there's still some time before lunch. Go now." "All right." Li Sanjiang looked at Li Zhuiyuan again and said seriously, "When your grandfather came earlier, I told him to have Ying Hou come this afternoon to tutor you." As he said this, Li Sanjiang's old face actually showed a teasing expression of "Ha, didn't expect that, did you?" "Ah?" Disappointment appeared on Li Zhuiyuan's face. He had planned to focus on reading and didn't want to tutor his sister. When his sister did her summer homework for Grade 10, there actually weren't many problems she didn't understand. Now she was already previewing Grade 11 material early, and there weren't many problems she did understand. Li Sanjiang reached out and ruffled Li Zhuiyuan's hair, saying earnestly, "You child, taking after your mom. With such a smart brain, wouldn't it be a pity not to use it for studying?" "But, Great-Grandpa..." "No buts. Study hard, get into a good university like your mom later. That's the right path, understand?" "But Great-Grandpa, I'm already attending university classes." "Hey, you dare to fool your Great-Grandpa? Your Great-Grandpa may not have eaten pork, but hasn't he seen pigs running? Listen to me, this matter is settled!" "Oh, right, Li Hou, when you go to town later, buy the kid some snacks—whatever there is—and buy a share for your daughter too." "All right, Uncle." Li Zhuiyuan looked at Uncle Qin, pointing to the southeast corner of the terrace, and said, "Uncle, can you help me put the rattan chair over there?" Uncle Qin: "Sure." "Why put it there?" Li Sanjiang saw Li Zhuiyuan was unwilling to place his rattan chair side by side with his own. Curious, he walked to the southeast corner and looked down—right inside the threshold of the east room sat the little girl. "Hey, Little Yuanhou, why are you putting it here?" Li Zhuiyuan: "Great-Grandpa, I think the feng shui is good here." "Ptooey!" Li Sanjiang laughed and scolded, "You think I don't know what you're thinking? You just want to look at that pretty girl." That Qin Liang girl was indeed pretty; otherwise Li Sanjiang wouldn't have voluntarily given her candy. But that girl was truly dangerous. Uncle Qin moved the rattan chair over, then greeted Li Sanjiang. He was about to go to town to buy things. After Uncle Qin left, Li Sanjiang grabbed Li Zhuiyuan and pointed at him, warning: "I'm telling you, Little Yuanhou, just look at that girl, don't think about getting close and playing with her, or she'll scratch your face up. Look at your face, so soft and fair—what a pity if she scratches it. How will you find a wife later?" "Okay, Great-Grandpa, I understand." "Besides, it's not okay to like just any girl. Liking one with something wrong in her head—no matter how pretty she is, it's useless. Do you really want to take care of her for a lifetime?" Li Sanjiang hadn't been able to say these things before when Qin Li was present. "I understand, Great-Grandpa." "Forget it. You're still young. Why am I telling you this? You're far from the age to marry. All right, Great-Grandpa is going out. I won't be back for lunch. Eat by yourself." "Mm." Li Sanjiang went downstairs with his hands behind his back, humming a little tune. He reached the courtyard, turned back, and looked up at the terrace, a smile appearing on his face. Little Yuanhou asked him for things, but he didn't mind the money—he had money! He suddenly felt that spending earned money on one's children was also a kind of happiness. Previously, he thought Han Hou being a slave to his sons was quite unpromising, especially since those sons weren't very filial. But now, he suddenly understood some things. If raising children wasn't to support himself in old age, but simply because it was interesting and made his life fuller? I gave birth to you and raised you; I don't ask for your gratitude. Anyway, I'm doing it for my own life's fulfillment. Hey, this felt pretty good. Li Sanjiang shook his head. Forget it, what was the point of thinking about this now? He was nearly at the age to enter the earth; this life was destined to be childless. After Great-Grandpa left, Li Zhuiyuan bathed and changed clothes, then impatiently picked up Volume 1 of "Jianghu Zhiguai Lu," sat on the rattan chair, opened the pages, and began reading. The characters in this book were written in slender gold script, much more comfortable to read. Compared to that, the characters in "Jinshaluo Wenjing" were like dog scratches. He silently made a wish: hope the other books in the chest were all written in good handwriting. Li Zhuiyuan soon became absorbed in the reading atmosphere. However, every time he turned a page, he would glance down at the girl sitting there with both feet on the threshold. He had no improper thoughts in his heart; he simply felt that looking at something pleasant could please the eyes and make one's mood more enjoyable. Except that in the morning the girl had turned her gaze to look at Niu Fu's back, she hadn't moved otherwise. Reading time passed quickly. Midway, Uncle Qin returned, bringing him a desk lamp and a set of stationery, as well as many snacks. After reading for a while longer, Auntie Liu's voice came from below: "Little Yuanhou, dinner's ready!" "All right, I'm coming down." Putting down the book, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs. Lunch was still eaten in the courtyard, but he had his own separate table. On a square wooden stool were placed a plate of chicken chunks braised with edamame, a plate of scrambled eggs with chives, and a bowl of crucian carp soup. Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but feel: Great-Grandpa's living conditions were indeed good. At Grandpa's house, Brother Pan Zi and Brother Lei Zi and them were probably still drinking porridge now. But he didn't think of bringing dishes back to share. He knew that wasn't appropriate. In the courtyard, Grandma Liu squatted beside Qin Liang, gently coaxing her. Finally, Qin Liang lowered her head and began eating. It was the same as breakfast: the dishes and rice had a steady rhythm, absolutely unhurried. After finishing, before Auntie Liu appeared, Li Zhuiyuan cleared his bowl and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen, washed his hands, then returned to the second floor to continue reading. Volume 1 of this book was about dead-flippers. There were truly many types of dead-flippers. Like Little Oriole, who could walk upright, in this book she would only count as moderately dangerous, even slightly below. But the more dangerous the dead-flipper, the more vague the recorded time and place, and the more abstract the illustrations—gradually giving the feeling of reading the "Classic of Mountains and Seas." Li Zhuiyuan thought this was normal. For such dangerous dead-flippers, not many people who saw them could come back alive, so naturally the records were vague. "Yuanzi." Ying Zi walked over carrying a wooden stool and a small stool. Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Ying Zi: "Sis." "I'm here, hehe. Come, eat some candy." Ying Zi took out candy from her pocket and handed it over. "Thanks, sis." Li Zhuiyuan unwrapped a candy, put it in his mouth, then walked into his bedroom. Ying Zi opened the cloth bundle and laid out the books and problems. Curiously, she reached out and flipped through the book Li Zhuiyuan had left on the rattan chair, frowning slightly. She couldn't understand these characters. At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan came out holding the snacks and placed them beside Ying Zi: "Sis, eat." "This is too much. How can I eat all this?" "Take it back for everyone. Don't let Grandpa and Grandma see." The snacks Li Zhuiyuan took out were those Li Weihan had sent in the morning, bought by Great-Grandpa; Li Zhuiyuan hadn't touched them. "You're the younger brother. It's embarrassing to eat your things." Seeing Li Zhuiyuan pick up his book and continue reading, Ying Zi had to go on: "Yuanzi, when sis starts working and earns money, I'll buy you more delicious things." Li Zhuiyuan looked up and smiled in response: "All right, sis." Then he lowered his head and continued reading. Seeing him absorbed in reading, Ying Zi also lowered her head to preview her lessons. But this time, instead of asking Li Zhuiyuan whenever she didn't understand something as before, she recorded them, waiting to ask him all at the end, so as not to disturb him first. After finishing Volume 1, Li Zhuiyuan stood up, went to the open space in front, and seriously performed a set of the National Middle School Students' Radio Calisthenics. Much of the content in this book was written obscurely, arcanely, and vaguely; he had to ponder while reading. This was the first time he'd ever found reading so tiring. But it was truly fulfilling, giving a sense of accomplishment. Li Zhuiyuan was happy because he could finally empathize with those poor students in his class. It turned out they had been living such happy, fulfilling lives all along. After finishing the exercises, Li Zhuiyuan went to the toilet. During the day he didn't need the chamber pot. He went downstairs and ran to the back of the house. On the way, he saw the girl sitting behind the threshold and stopped to greet her: "Good afternoon." Of course, the girl didn't respond, not even giving him a glance from the corner of his eye. Back on the second floor, he put Volume 1 back and took out Volume 2 to continue reading. With Volume 1 as a foundation, Li Zhuiyuan gradually understood the author's writing habits and could even resonate with some of the author's mindset. So Volume 2 took only half the time of Volume 1 to finish. He immediately switched to Volume 3. By the time he finished Volume 3, it was nearly dusk. Li Zhuiyuan put down the book and looked at Sister Ying beside him. "Sis, is there anything you don't understand?" "Yes, this, this, this, this, this, and these..." Li Zhuiyuan took his sister's pen and began writing out the solution process. He wrote as detailed as possible so his sister could read it herself slowly. At least it was far more efficient than explaining orally. Watching her younger brother scribble "shuashua" quickly on the notebook, Ying Zi could only feel envious. Surely, if you excluded the paternal aunt and the younger brother, the whole Li family with so many people might not have one brain among them. She truly felt lucky. Although her parents gave her money to buy study materials, the supplementary books of this era were crude. Many real exam questions and explanations were only available within key famous schools. Even if willing to spend money, it was hard to get them. Not to mention her younger brother's role had long surpassed study guides. He was practically her private tutor. Even if her parents were open-minded, they couldn't hire a school teacher to tutor her privately, nor could they afford it. After finishing, Li Zhuiyuan exhaled deeply, rubbed his sore wrist, and said, "Sis, I suggest you first thoroughly understand the concepts, then pair them with simple problems to deepen your understanding. That way, your study efficiency will improve." Ying Zi: But that's what I'm already doing! Ying Zi lowered her head and began looking at the solution process her brother gave. She could tell it was detailed, but as she went through step by step, she still found it difficult. It was like her brain was being forcibly pried open, knowledge points being stuffed in bit by bit with great difficulty, and half of it spilled out. At that moment, Li Sanjiang returned. He walked onto the courtyard, looked up, and saw Li Zhuiyuan and Ying Zi sitting at the southeast corner of the second floor. He saw Li Zhuiyuan with a smile on his face, looking relaxed, and then Ying Zi with a worried look, lifeless and listless. "Hmph, this brat. Not studying seriously, making his sister suffer a headache!" ...At dinner, Ying Zi didn't stay to eat here. Li Weihan had already instructed when she came. Li Sanjiang actually spoke up to ask her to stay this time. Seeing her firmly refuse, he gave up. In the past, Li Sanjiang had always looked down on Li Weihan's four sons and didn't pay much attention to their children either. But who asked him to invite Ying Zi today to tutor Little Yuanhou? "Little Yuanhou, tomorrow share some snacks with your sister." Li Zhuiyuan, who was eating, responded: "Great-Grandpa, I already shared them." "Mm." Li Sanjiang then felt better in his conscience. He couldn't anger the girl, or she wouldn't come to tutor tomorrow. After dinner, as usual, Li Zhuiyuan went to bathe first. When he came out of the bath, he saw Li Sanjiang standing at the upper edge of the terrace, a cigarette in his left hand and holding himself in his right hand. Before him, in the moonlight, a parabolic stream of water appeared. "Little Yuanhou, are you done bathing?" "Done, Great-Grandpa. You go bathe." "Mm. Wait for me in the room." Li Sanjiang shook his shoulders, puffed his chest, and then swayed his thighs back and forth. Li Zhuiyuan then understood. So at night, he actually didn't need the chamber pot. Walking into Great-Grandpa's bedroom, the array was still there, though newly drawn. After examining the array, Li Zhuiyuan blinked with some confusion. It could be seen that tonight's array was the same as last night's, but still differed from what was drawn in Jinshaluo Wenjing. That it differed from the book was understandable; after all, last night was too. "But how is it also slightly different from what was drawn last night?" Li Zhuiyuan could only suspect Great-Grandpa had made adjustments based on last night's array effects. First, because he was still reading an introductory book and hadn't seen array diagrams; Second, his world was full of rigor, and for now he couldn't break free from the inertia of rigorous thinking to consider another possibility. Li Zhuiyuan sat in his own position. After a while, Li Sanjiang came in after bathing. Today he was wearing a white pair of underpants with a hole in them. Like yesterday, first he used black ritual ropes to tie himself and Li Zhuiyuan together, still in the old positions. Then he lit a candle, and finally he also sat inside the circle. This time, Li Zhuiyuan looked carefully and found that Great-Grandpa's talisman paper was pulled out from his underpants, and the underpants had no pockets. He lit it, chanted scriptures, and then, before it burned his hand, "Slap!" he slapped it onto the ground. The candle didn't go out, and the bulb didn't flicker. "Is it done, Great-Grandpa?" "Not yet. Wait a bit more." After saying this, Li Sanjiang took out another talisman, lit it, repeated the motion, but this time slapped the talisman onto the ground with greater force. "Slap!!!" This crisp sound made the corner of Li Sanjiang's mouth hurt and twitch. But great force produced results. With a "shua" sound, the candle went out completely, and the bulb overhead gave face by flickering twice. "It's done!" Li Sanjiang exhaled and said calmly, "Little Yuanhou, go to sleep now. Remember, don't undo the ropes." "I know, Great-Grandpa." After Li Zhuiyuan went out, Li Sanjiang immediately blew on his own palm: "Hoo hoo... hiss... hurts so much." After blowing, he looked toward the bed, and his face immediately showed a bitter expression: "Damn it, won't it be a zombie meeting again tonight?" ...After returning to his bedroom, Li Zhuiyuan didn't get into bed but turned on the desk lamp, took out Volume 4, and continued reading. After finishing Volume 4, he took out Volume 5. But he hadn't read a few pages before he pressed his forehead against the desk and fell asleep. ...In the rice paddy, a silhouette of an old woman appeared. If Li Zhuiyuan had seen her now, he would have recognized her as the one on Niu Fu's hunched back. She was hunched over, green light in her eyes, and on her originally wrinkled face, fine downy hair slowly began to grow. Her figure vanished from where she was. The next moment, she appeared on the courtyard, then vanished again. This time, she appeared inside the house on the first floor. She stopped among the piles of paper effigies, looking at so many paper people, paper horses, and paper houses. She tilted her head, and an eerie smile appeared on her face. ...Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyes and raised his head. He had actually fallen asleep while reading. He intended to relieve himself and then go to bed, just as Great-Grandpa had demonstrated. He got up, walked to the bedroom door, pushed it open, and went out. Li Zhuiyuan who walked out didn't notice that his other self behind the small desk was still sleeping soundly with his head on the desk. Coming outside, the cool night wind blew, and Li Zhuiyuan felt very refreshed. But soon, he heard noisy clamor coming from downstairs. So late, who was making a racket? No... Great-Grandpa's house was quiet even during the day. Li Zhuiyuan walked to the edge of the terrace and listened intently downward. He heard men and women talking and singing, heard horses neighing, cats and dogs barking, all kinds of sounds. The first floor was like a carnival dance party. But the first floor only had a pile of paper effigies. Could it be? Li Zhuiyuan was startled at first, then suddenly understood. Oh, he must be dreaming. At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan's gaze swept downward. He saw, standing on the courtyard, a figure dressed in a purple qipao—Qin Liang! Huh, how did you walk out of the threshold by yourself? No, not, why did you appear in my dream!"