Jiuliang and I wandered around the mountain village like this because I had already formed a deep connection with Lin Xiaoyao, so I wasn't afraid of her overthinking anything. — In fact, the main reason is that I am now very afraid of going home, and I feel a bit repulsed, not only because I can't face the mother and daughter, but also because I can't face Second Uncle, who I betrayed today, and my father, who will turn into a 'woman' tonight.
However, there are some things that still need to be faced. When the two of us wandered around the mountain until it was completely dark and returned home, Lin Xiaoyao didn't leave any food for us to eat, and seeing us, she said, 'I thought the two of you had gone to the town to have a good meal and drink. If not, I'll cook some simple meals for you.'
I couldn't do anything about this little woman's jealousy, nor did I have the heart to care. There were just too many things happening tonight. I had to deliver the invitation to Second Uncle, and I had to watch for my father's abnormal behavior in the wee hours of the morning. Jiuliang and I each had a bowl of instant noodles from her car, the old sour cabbage flavor. I hadn't eaten instant noodles since returning to the mountain village, and it seemed to be an incredible delicacy, as I even wanted to drink the soup dry.
After dinner, Second Uncle had already gone to rest, and I dawdled outside for a long time. In the end, as I entered the house and saw Second Uncle peacefully, I couldn't bring myself to speak because once I told Second Uncle about the fat man wanting to meet him, it meant I had betrayed his secret. I couldn't forget the murderous look in his eyes when Lin Xiaoyao had exposed him in the ancestral hall that night.
"Second Uncle," I called out to him.
"Yeah?" he looked at me and asked.
"What should we do about my dad's situation?" I asked.
"Let's see tonight, and then we'll decide," he smiled at me.
"Second Uncle, are you really a Yin Yang Master?" I asked.
He was momentarily stunned and looked at me with a vacant gaze. After a while, he said, "You can say that."
"Fatso told me to give this to you," I handed him the business card. After Second Uncle received the card, he glanced at me, making me feel ashamed and unable to look at him.
Second Uncle stared at the card for a long time without saying a word. I dared not look at him and carefully listened to his breathing, fearing that he would get so angry as to kill me in a fit of rage. Fortunately, his breath remained calm, and he didn't exhibit any signs of extreme anger. After a while, Second Uncle asked, "Did he say anything else?"
Being asked by Second Uncle, I immediately repeated the prepared words, saying, "He said that dealing with what's in the red coffin wasn't something he was sure about, and that he wanted to form an alliance with you. As for other matters, he said you would understand once you saw this card, and if you were interested, you could go to Lin Sanshui's house to meet him."
Second Uncle directly flicked the exquisitely printed business card away, and next, I witnessed a mind-boggling scene that I had only ever seen in TV shows.
Under Second Uncle's flick, the paper business card rotated in the air with the speed of a dart, and then, like a razor, it sliced into the wall.
It went into the wall by two-thirds.
My clothes were instantly drenched in sweat. If this had been aimed at me just now, this thin piece of paper would have been enough to take my life. — This move of his could be venting anger, like how someone might break a plate when they're angry, or it could be a warning, as if to say 'next time, it won't be the wall that's cut!'
"Second Uncle, you're really my relative!" I patted my chest and thought to myself.
Then Second Uncle coldly chuckled and said, "He wants me to go see him? Xuanzhen Temple on Zifu Mountain, such grandeur! Tell him that if he wants to discuss, he can come see me."
I was speechless. These two people were truly a perfect match. One passed on the visiting card, and the other was indecisive about who should come to meet whom, but it was obvious that Second Uncle was more formidable. If you want to discuss things, then come see me. How domineering he had to be to say that?
I didn't dare offend either of these two and said to Second Uncle, "Aren't you angry that I revealed your secret?"
"In fact, from the moment Fatso came, I wasn't prepared to keep it a secret anymore," Second Uncle said.
— These two good buddies truly understood each other, almost to the point of being able to guess each other's thoughts without saying a word. After Second Uncle said that, he closed his eyes. I didn't feel like talking to him either, so I lay down like that. I suddenly realized that we were going to monitor my father's bizarre behavior tonight. What if the mother and daughter next door come find me in the middle of the night? My father, at his age, will turn into a 'woman' at night, and this can only be kept within a small circle of people. His situation is different from Lin Èr Dani's soul-wandering, which will be the talk of the village if it gets out. In the moment while Second Uncle was resting, I got off the bed. Policewoman was still awake, and the lights in my parents' room were still on. As long as I explained to them at this time, I wouldn't be stuck in the room. I had no doubt that if I went to explain in the middle of the night, I wouldn't be able to leave.
I knocked on the door, and Lin Xiaoyao opened it and saw me. Her face turned red as she lowered her voice and said, "Are you in such a hurry! You came so early!"
"I'm just here to explain to you. I have something to do tonight, so you should both go to sleep first."
Lin Xiaoyao glanced at Jiuliang's tent subconsciously, nodded, and said, "You go ahead." After that, she closed the door. After going over once, I never went again. In their eyes, they probably thought I was preparing to shirk my responsibilities, right?
I turned around and saw Jiuliang sticking his head out of the tent, looking at me with a smile that wasn't a smile.
That's how it was, waiting until two in the morning, I was already so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open. Jiuliang knocked on my door and my second uncle's door, the three of us, stealthily, went to the window outside my father's room. There was a lot of dust on the window, but fortunately, there was a crack in the glass. We leaned in.
I saw my mother lying on the bed, a familiar yet unfamiliar mother, lying quietly and neatly dressed.
While my father was at a simple dressing table, lighting two red candles used for weddings.
On the dressing table, there was an ancient bronze mirror.
My father, touching his cheek with his orchid fingers, shaking his head back and forth. His other hand slowly combing through the non-existent long hair in the air.
I suddenly felt dry mouthed.
The policewoman secretly took out her phone, aimed it at the crack in the window, and turned on the camera function.
The three of us stood there watching. I wanted to make a sound, but my second uncle covered my mouth and held me back. My father spent over twenty minutes dressing himself in front of the bronze mirror.
Then he stood up, tied a red cloth around his waist.
He was a big, rough man, but at that moment, he was dancing gracefully in the room, holding the red silk in his hands, dancing beautifully.
Just like a female character in Peking Opera, exactly the same.
He was singing something with his mouth, but no sound came out. We could only judge that he was performing based on the movement of his mouth.
If my father was possessed by a ghost, then this woman must have been a Peking Opera singer in the past.
After all this, my father blew out the red candles, put them in the cabinet, felt his way to the bed in the dark, and the three of us left the room again, quietly.
When we returned to the room, the policewoman and my second uncle looked at me, their eyes concerned.
"Second Uncle, you must save my dad, even if it means sacrificing my life," I unconsciously burst into tears.
"Xiaofan, don't worry, everything will be fine," my second uncle reassured me.
I didn't know what to say. At the time of Grandfather's death, I wasn't too sad because he was old, and it was considered a relief. But my father was still young, despite his lack of money and ability, he was immensely tall in my heart. His accident had completely stirred up a storm in my heart. I felt that if this family didn't have me, Lin Xiaofan, it would be okay, but if it didn't have my father, it would definitely collapse.
That night, I had a dream. In the dream, my father became a female character in Peking Opera, and a group of long-haired Qing nobles cheered below the stage.
My dream was interrupted by Jiuliang. I opened my eyes to see her anxious face, just like how she woke me up yesterday morning. Today, she didn't even have time to let me put on my shorts. She just dragged me out of bed in my underwear. As we left, we coincidentally ran into Wu Miaoke, who was out early to buy groceries.
Wu Miaoke saw the two of us and lightly smiled at us. I couldn't even tell his emotions. I didn't have time to greet him, because the policewoman was on the verge of madness, she dragged me into the car and tossed me her phone, saying, "Don't ask me why I'm so anxious, see for yourself! When I woke up this morning and wanted to figure out which play your dad was singing last night, I found this!"
I opened the video. Jiuliang's phone was a well-known brand, and the video was clear.
I saw the contents of the video, completely different from what we had seen at the window last night.
This content directly made my only pair of underwear damp in the early morning.
Dressed and dancing, my honest and upright father, who should have been in the video, became a woman in red and opera makeup.
For a moment, everything spun.