"Sit down and explain yourself," I felt something was wrong, so I brought over a stool for the visitor to sit on.
Just this action earned me a glare from my grandmother, who had always doted on me. A jealous woman is indeed frightening.
"I don't know anything else, my mom told me that Mr. Lin is my father, so I came to find him," the man said, looking at my grandfather with a smile that was not a smile.
"You're talking nonsense! Who sent you to tarnish my name!" My grandfather exploded when he heard this.
But my grandmother grabbed his ear and whispered to him, "You sit down and shut up!"
She walked over, circled the man, and asked, "What is your mother's name?"
“Song Zhiyin,” he said.
“I don't know any Song Zhiyin! How could I possibly recognize her!!" Grandpa immediately stood up again, but was glared at by grandma with a look.
"Where are you from?" Grandma asked like a detective.
"Liaocheng, Shandong," he said.
"When did I ever go to Liaocheng, Shandong?!" Grandpa erupted this time, standing up and grabbing my grandma, "Wife, you know, when have I been away from home for more than a day since we got married? How could I possibly go to Liaocheng, Shandong and do something to betray you?"
At this point, my grandma also got up, halfway believing, and said to the young man, "You might have mistaken the person. Though you do look similar to my son, the timing doesn't match."
"Yes, Grandpa has an alibi, this gentleman, you might have indeed mistaken the person," I added. Seeing the expression on grandpa's face at the moment, I couldn't bear to continue the joke.
"Do you really not remember me? Liaocheng, Shandong, that night, you even gave my mother the pistol you got from the Japanese devils, or rather, left it with her," the man stared at grandpa with a smile.
Grandpa's expression changed significantly, as if contemplating.
As soon as grandma saw this, she was about to take off her other shoe.
But at that moment, grandpa suddenly shouted loudly, "It's you!!"
Grandpa's face changed from yellow to red in an instant, then from red to white! His eyes widened!
At this point, grandma took off the other shoe and hit grandpa on the head.
I thought grandpa deserved it, because his "It's you" indicated that he acknowledged it.
But I didn't laugh because I saw grandpa's eyes roll back and he lay stiff on the ground, frothing at the mouth.
Grandpa died. Just like that.
He didn't confess anything, he just said "It's you." But this one sentence verified the identity of the visitor.
In this small village, it was definitely explosive news, and became the subject of discussion in every household.
Lin Laomei of the Nationalist Party actually had a mistress in Liaocheng, Shandong, and now, his illegitimate son has come looking for him!
The old lady got jealous and beat Lin Laomei to death with a shoe!
The coffin was made by my father and the visitor together, whom I should now call my second uncle. My father was a good, honest man, and he quickly accepted his half-brother.
Our family was very poor, extremely poor, to the point where we weren't afraid of anyone contesting our inheritance. Even if they did, father's character was not that type.
Because my grandpa's death, it was, how should I put it, very disharmonious, and with the current scorching heat, the body had already started to stink after two days. So, we didn't follow the tradition of keeping the body for three days, and instead, the casket was placed the next morning and the funeral procession was held.
On the way to the burial, my grandmother, who had tormented my grandpa all her life, shed bloody tears, fainted several times, and even hit her head against the coffin.
Just like her, who lacked education, she only said one thing: "Old man, I'm sorry for everything."
Everyone cried, although there were two people in the crowd who didn't cry: my mother, who silently followed the funeral procession in mourning clothes, and my new uncle. Some people in the neighborhood cursed at him, but I didn't, because after all, I was a college student.
Some things aren't hard to understand, for a father who just died right after being met, it's abnormal to cry.
Because the entire village had the Lin surname, according to tradition, grandpa was buried in the family tomb, and his tablet was placed in the ancestral hall.
My grandmother was completely drained, and from my grandpa's death until now, she hadn't eaten or drunk anything, her voice hoarse from crying. The headmaster of the village school, knowing about our family's situation, graciously gave me half a month off to take care of family matters and even paid my salary in advance.
I didn't refuse him because my home was indeed in chaos.
By all accounts, with my grandmother's temper, even if my granddad had died, she wouldn't have accepted this newcomer uncle.
Yet, this time, she unexpectedly agreed. Perhaps, she just didn't have the energy to deal with it.
So, the situation in my home now can be said to be very chaotic. A grandparent just passed away, and now an illegitimate child has come looking for him. My grandmother has fallen ill again.
But, amidst the chaos, everything was strangely orderly.
Because my uncle rarely spoke, dressed completely different from the villagers, yet on the second day after grandpa's burial, he went to work in the fields with my father.
To put it bluntly, he looked very wealthy, just from his demeanor.
If I were him, I wouldn't stay in this small village.
What was there for me to stay for? - If I had money.
I stayed home alone to look after my grandmother, telling her to pull herself together. His death wasn't her fault. While consoling her with these words, I suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Grandpa's death was accidental, but who was responsible for this accident, grandma or my uncle? Clearly, it was the latter. Yet, why did I have no resentment towards this mysterious uncle? I felt curious about this sudden intruder in our home - someone who was well-dressed and carried himself with elegance, while I, who had been accustomed to the ways of the world in the city, couldn't understand why he came to our house and had intentions of staying permanently.
Finally, I came to understand that, in rural areas, an old person's passing can be seen as a good riddance.
"Xiaofan, don't worry, grandma will be fine. She's been with your granddad all her life, bullied him all her life, and now that there's no one to bully, she's just not used to it. Your granddad was honest his whole life, but right before dying, he did something dishonest, and now he's gone before I could even hit him," grandma wept.
"Don't worry, grandma will be fine. I won't die until I meet my daughter-in-law," my father said.
Things were developing in the most unexpected way, and for a household in the mountains, having one more person was just like adding an extra bowl of water when cooking, or an extra pair of chopsticks when eating.
Grandma truly gathered strength, and my uncle accompanied my father in working in the fields. Two men in their prime, the land we already had at home couldn't satisfy them. I overheard my father talking about going to clear a piece of land on the mountain in a few days.
In our family, which had been single-child for generations, suddenly having an extra brother, I could tell that my father was happy. As for my uncle, my grandma's attitude was complicated and helpless.
She despised him, but always made extra food for him. She just needed time to adjust, I thought.
Uncle Er is an extremely taciturn person. After coming to my house, he would smile at me, but never said a word to me. When it's time to eat, he simply ate quietly, and after finishing his meal, he would go back to his own little room.
"Do you think he might have gotten into trouble in the city, so he came here to seek refuge?" I asked my father.
"Eat your food, stop talking nonsense. He's your uncle," my father scolded with a laugh.
I didn't say anything more. There really wasn't anything worth worrying about in my house, but I still paid attention to Uncle Er, because I always felt that he seemed to have something on his mind.
Two people from different worlds suddenly merged into one world, which was very unsettling. But overall, the household settled down.
Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was my grandfather's seventh day memorial. I had already made arrangements with the village chief, and things at home were almost taken care of. After the memorial, the students could start their classes.