I grabbed Uncle Two's hand and said, "Uncle Two, don't."
He looked back at me, and the gleam in his eyes slowly dissipated as he nodded to me. "I have reasons I can't disclose to others."
"I understand," I forcefully closed the coffin lid.
Then I ran over, grabbed Lin Xiaoyao, and left. Tonight, I saw a glimpse of what was hidden behind Uncle Two's icy demeanor, but just from that look, I knew he was capable of anything.
A person who fears nothing supernatural. I couldn't think of anything he wouldn't do.
I grabbed Lin Xiaoyao and walked to her house directly. Stepping through the gate, I finally felt relieved.
It was then that I realized I was holding the two of them by their hands, and both of their faces were flushed red.
I let go, saying to Wu Miaoke, "Auntie, I'm sorry."
She lowered her head and didn't dare to look at me.
A typical conservative woman, blushing and not knowing where to put her hands, even forgetting to invite me inside, she awkwardly said, "You chat with Little Yao, and I'll go to bed."
Wu Miaoke went into the room, and perhaps due to nervousness, I, a young man, just stood at the door and didn't dare turn on the lights. As soon as I stepped inside, I heard her scream.
Lin Xiaoyao and I hurriedly pushed open the door, and Lin Xiaoyao turned on the light. There I saw Wu Miaoke, who had fallen over a stool and had a noticeable bruise on her shin from the accident.
"Auntie, are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine." She was still very shy, and this shyness didn't even fit a woman her age.
If I were to follow the content of those erotic novels I read in college, at this moment, I should have picked her up, disregarded her resistance, and laid her on the bed with authority. A few times of doing this and I could have easily had my way.
But I didn't. First, I couldn't figure out what emotions I had for Wu Miaoke. The fleeting glory I had at 11 years old often appeared in my dreams, but what I felt more for her was pity for her unhappy family.
Moreover, Lin Xiaoyao was still present.
In the end, it was Lin Xiaoyao who helped her into the bedroom. After she came out, I still hadn't said a word, and Lin Xiaoyao spoke up, saying, "Xiaofan, if you're busy, go ahead. Don't worry, I didn't see anything tonight, and I won't tell anyone, including my mother."
She looked at me with fiery eyes, blushing. Suddenly, I didn't find her face full of black moles that terrifying anymore.
She was a girl as kind and sensible as her mother.
"You don't need to stress too much. What you saw just now may not all be true. Don't worry, if anything happens, I'm here for you," I smiled at her and left her home.
As I stepped out and felt the evening breeze, looking at the tranquil village, I suddenly felt that everything I had just experienced was so unreal.
This feeling was just like when I was in college, indulging in novels and fantasizing about being a powerful person, but as soon as I closed the books, I was pulled back into reality; a loser was just a loser. The feeling I had at that moment was so similar.
I couldn't even tell if everything that had just happened was real or a dream. Maybe I would suddenly open my eyes and Grandpa would still be arguing with Grandma, and everything that had happened recently was just a dream. Wouldn't that be nice?
Thinking this, I walked back to the ancestral hall lost in my thoughts. By then, my father had already woken up. He was burning paper money in front of the coffin, and the flickering flames seemed to silently tell me that everything I had just experienced was real and not a dream.
I walked to the ancestral hall, and my father asked me, "Are you having diarrhea? Why did you take so long to go to the toilet?"
I glanced at my second uncle and he winked at me. I looked at the ground and noticed that the bloodstains from earlier had been cleaned up by my second uncle. It seemed that he had also hidden what had happened here from my father.
"Well, I do feel a bit uncomfortable in my stomach," I said. This was the first time I had lied to my father.
To me, my father was a strict and hardworking man. He had always told me that if I made a mistake, I should admit it.
"I will punish you if you lie, but I won't punish you if you confess your mistake willingly," my father said.
"If you're not feeling well, go back and rest for a while," he said, smiling at me. Then he added, "We've been quite busy lately. Your uncle San Shui has gone to invite the spiritual master. When the master arrives, everything will be fine. Don't feel pressured."
After he said that, I thought about it. When I went to Lin San Shui's house earlier, I didn't see anyone from his family. He might have used the excuse of inviting the spiritual master to go to the town and meet his old lover. I was even more curious about what kind of girl could make Lin San Shui give up the graceful and beautiful Wu Miaoke at home. Just because I had lied to my father, I now had no idea how to face him. It was a good time to go home. As soon as I walked out of the ancestral hall, my second uncle followed, patting me on the shoulder.
"My dad is alone there. Is everything okay?" I looked back at the ancestral hall with concern.
"Nothing will happen," my second uncle said, smiling at me.
"That girl is Lin Xiaoyao, village head Lin San Shui's daughter. I assure you, she promised me that she wouldn't mention anything she saw today to anyone," my second uncle said, his eyes cold. He added, "You're reliable and steady, Xiaofan." I smiled at him, unsure of how to respond. After a while, I asked, "Uncle, since you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask who you really are. I believe you wouldn't harm us, I'm just curious about what happened today and what happened to Grandpa San. What about the rooster's blood?"
"It's a case of faking death, and the rooster's blood must be from a five-colored rooster. Only the five-colored rooster's blood can signify the phoenix, and the phoenix's blood contains the sun, which can burn away all the filth of the world," he told me.
"What exactly are you? How do you know this?" I cleared my throat but ultimately didn't ask. In the end, I wasn't very familiar with my second uncle who had suddenly appeared at home.
It seemed like he could read my mind and said, "Xiaofan, there are some things I can't say, just as you said earlier. I won't harm you, perhaps one day, you'll understand my difficulties."
"I will keep this secret for you," I assured him.
After saying that, I had reached the doorstep of my home. In the moonlight, I saw a figure sitting on the steps in front of my house. It seemed I had grown very suspicious lately. I saw almost anything uncertain as ghosts and monsters. I picked up a brick from the ground and approached the house. When I got closer, I saw clearly that the person sitting at the door was actually my mother.
"Mom, why are you sitting here alone? Please go back," I said to her.
So many things had happened recently that had changed my habits and perceptions. Just consider this, this was the first time I had seen my mother leave the doorstep of our house.
Yes, for over twenty years, since my father bought her, she had hardly ever left that room, let alone the doorstep.
She didn't even listen to me when I spoke to her. When I tried to pull her up to take her back, she resisted and didn't speak. She just squatted at the doorstep with a smile on her face, and no one knew what was going on in her mind.
"Xiaofan, just let her sit, she's waiting for your father to come back," my second uncle said.
Suddenly, I didn't know what to say.
Growing up in this family, I can't say I felt inferior, but because of the lack of maternal love, I felt very uncomfortable as a child. Even now, when I analyze my inexplicable emotional attachment to Wu Miaoke, I feel it's because of my lack of maternal love.
As I grew up, I even sometimes ignored my mother's existence. It's not that I'm unfilial, it's just the truth. Many times, for me, the word mother is just a medium that brought me into this world. We have a bond of blood but there's nothing else between us. In my grandmother's words, she didn't even breastfeed me. I survived solely from the milk of the sheep raised by my grandfather.
I am a child who grew up drinking sheep's milk.
But this "dazed" woman actually knew that my father wasn't at home at this time every day. She was waiting for him to come back.
I didn't force my mother any further, but instead went to get a blanket to cover, I brought her inside. After I got home, my grandmother wasn't asleep yet. These consecutive blows had taken a toll on her health. When she saw me and my second uncle return, she made us a bowl of egg tea.
"Don't worry, Xiaofan, everything will pass," she said, patting my hand. My eyes were a bit moist. At this moment, my father and grandmother, in their eyes, needed comfort from me the most. Perhaps in their eyes, I will always be a child.
Before going to bed, I glanced at my second uncle. He was now the only person in my eyes who could change the situation, but he didn't show any intention of taking action. I had learned his secret, but I felt like I couldn't really understand this person anymore.
Lin San Shui had returned, but he hadn't brought back the spiritual master. This was the news I received the next day when I woke up. The villagers were all talking about it. Lin San Shui had gone to invite the master, representing our family. The spiritual master was a promise and a guarantee from our family to the villagers.
"Xiaofan, go to your uncle San Shui's house and ask him what's going on," my father said, puffing on his pipe. Today, since Lin San Shui had returned without the master, people were asking my father if he was going to do something about it. If not, we would soon reach the seventh day, and they would burn him.
"We will, for sure," my father responded to the person who asked.
I was eager to see the spiritual master now, because my father didn't know what had happened to Grandpa San last night. I had experienced the terrifying scene firsthand.
I bought two bottles of Niulanshan from the convenience store and brought them to Lin San Shui's house. Whether it was his duty as the village head or his private affair with a lover, he had really helped my family a lot. Two bottles of Niulanshan was a small gesture at least.
When I knocked on the door of Lin San Shui's house, Lin Xiaoyao opened it.
"Where's my uncle San Shui?" I asked her.
Lin Xiaoyao's eyes were a little red, and she nodded towards the inner room, indicating that Lin San Shui was at home.
"What's going on?" I asked her.
"My dad hit my mom," Lin Xiaoyao said, and then burst into tears.
I clenched my fist, then relaxed it. Why should I be in charge of other people's family affairs?
"It's okay, I'll go talk to Uncle," I said to Lin Xiaoyao.