My name is Wang Lin, born in Chongqing in 1990.
On the day I was born, my grandmother passed away. She was a healthy old lady, but as soon as I cried out for the first time, she stumbled and fell, departing from this world.
"Disaster star!"
Seeing my grandmother falling, my grandfather didn't step forward to help. Instead, he coldly glared at me, just born, and angrily returned to the house, locking the door behind him.
What was even more bewildering was that my grandfather never showed his face during the entire funeral. It wasn't until the morning of the funeral that someone saw him pressed against the window, gazing at the funeral procession from a distance, with a complex expression.
How could he be so cruel?
His own companion had passed away, yet he didn't even show his face?
My grandfather's unusual behavior undoubtedly provoked strong dissatisfaction from the family, and soon after, an incident led to a collective decision to push my grandfather out of the house.
It happened when I had just turned a week old...
As the only son, my parents specially organized a "first birthday feast" for me, inviting a large group of relatives and friends to celebrate with food and drink.
Just as everyone was enjoying themselves, someone suddenly suggested performing a "Catching Fortune" ritual for me.
Catching Fortune, also known as Child Catching, Future Testing, or Catching Age, was a long-standing custom in my hometown. In simple terms, it was a divination ritual performed when a child turned one year old, to predict their future and temperament.
Seeing everyone excited, my father naturally agreed. Then, everyone gathered various small items such as stamps, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, as well as various snacks, toys, and women's cosmetics like rouge and lipstick.
After that, my mother carried me into the middle and, without any hinting, let me pick at random.
Each item in the Catching Fortune ritual represented different meanings. For example, catching a stamp might indicate the future possibility of becoming a high-ranking official, while catching women's cosmetics could suggest becoming a person who indulged in sensual pleasures when grown up.
Everything was going smoothly.
Regardless of what I picked, it was just a family game, meant to entertain relatives and friends, nothing more.
But strangely, just as I was about to pick, my grandfather suddenly appeared with a mysterious look on his face. Without a word, he directly placed a deep blue dagger in the pile of items. I ended up bewilderedly reaching for that dagger.
As everyone looked at my grandfather in confusion, he suddenly burst into action, grabbing the dagger and cursing loudly, "Demon spawn!"
A cold light flashed, and the dagger in my grandfather's hand slashed directly towards my chest.
Everything happened so suddenly that even with so many relatives and friends present, no one was able to intervene. They could only watch as the dagger tore my clothes apart on my chest and left a terrifying ten-centimeter long blood mark.
The deep red blood instantly stained the blanket beneath me, and I burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
My mother fainted on the spot, and my father, seething with anger, pushed my grandfather to the ground. "Have you gone mad?!"
A tiger doesn't eat its cubs, not to mention an infant who had just turned one year old?
My father was probably blinded by anger. He kicked my grandfather twice, then picked me up and hurried to the hospital.
No one could understand why my grandfather would do such a thing. What was he after?
Later, many relatives and friends asked him, but he stubbornly refused to speak, only muttering "disaster star" in a half-dazed manner.
Not long after, my grandfather was driven out of the new house and went back to living alone in the old house up in the mountains.
I, on the other hand, had my life barely saved through medical treatment. But the ten-centimeter scar on my chest became increasingly grotesque as I grew older, making me frail and sickly from a young age. Many people even worried that I might not live a long life.
It wasn't until I entered junior high and passed the first year of my fate that my health gradually improved, and my family finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In my memory, my recollections of my grandfather have always been quite vague. When I was young and ignorant, I had also gone to play at my grandfather's old house, but every time, he sternly ordered me out and didn't want me around.
As I grew up, I rarely saw my grandfather, and I never went back to the old house. Occasionally bumping into him on the street, he never even spared me a glance, as if looking at me more would bring about calamity.
It wasn't until I turned twenty, got admitted to university, and was about to go to a neighboring province to study, that my grandfather suddenly found me the night before my departure, asking me to accompany him to the old house.
To be honest, I really didn't want to go at the time.
Firstly, it was because I was leaving the next day and had a lot of things to pack in the evening.
Secondly, I was actually quite afraid of my grandfather, and I had a shadow over the gloomy old house up in the mountains. That place was just like a nightmare from my childhood.
However, I still went.
The reason why, I'm not clear myself. Perhaps it was because of his full head of white hair and his stooped body. Or maybe it was because of his sorrowful yet expectant gaze...
In any case, I went.
I've never blamed my grandfather. I don't resent him for calling me a "disaster star," nor do I blame him for leaving such a dreadful scar on my chest.
Blood is thicker than water; he is still my grandfather after all, and I always feel that he must have had his reasons.
Which old person doesn't want to see their children and grandchildren prosper and flourish happily?
But my grandfather chose to cut my chest, paying the price of solitude for twenty whole years, except for a bit of food on festive occasions, with no one bothering about his daily life.
I think he had his reasons.
Arriving at the old house, my grandfather looked at me calmly and asked, "Do you blame me, Wang Lin?"
"Strange before, not strange now."
"Then, would you like to call me grandfather?"
Grandfather looked at me expectantly.
"Grandfather."
I answered his question with my actions.
"Good-- good--"
"Grandfather" made him burst into tears, and I noticed his eyes at the time, there was relief, there was touch, and seemed to be aggrieved...
He must have his reasons, I am more convinced of this!
After a long time, Grandfather wiped his tears, and his face returned to calm again: "Do you believe in Grandfather?"
"Yeah!"
I nodded confidently, while secretly delighted, after so many years, would the truth finally come to light today?
"Then you should carry this with you in the future!"
Grandfather, with great solemnity, took out something wrapped in red cloth from under his pillow and handed it to me.
I was curious and about to open it.
"Don't look! The time is not right!"
Grandfather was startled and quickly stopped me, then said: "You were born under a bloody light, with a lonely fate. In the next four years, your luck may not be good, you need to be psychologically prepared."
"Four years from tomorrow, you may encounter something you can't solve, and then you can open the red cloth! Otherwise, burn it and never open it! Remember! Remember!"
"Four years from tomorrow?"
I looked at grandfather in puzzlement and asked, "Why not today?"
"Tomorrow you'll know!"
Grandfather said with increasing sadness: "Also, after you leave today, never come back to the old house! Tell your dad to burn it down! Remember that?"
"Oh..."
Although I was full of doubts and didn't take seriously what Grandfather said about the "lonely fate", I still nodded obediently.
"Go! Never come back here again!"
Having said this, Grandfather once again swept me out of the house.
"Grandfather!"
I called out, but Grandfather quickly locked the door, without any response.
Ah, he really was a strange old man...
I was already used to Grandfather's strange temper, knowing that he was a man of his word, I prepared to leave.
After not even taking a few steps, I suddenly felt so sad, I looked back at the old house, as if my heart suddenly had a certain feeling, I always felt that this might be the last time I would see my grandfather!
After struggling in my heart for a while, I finally restrained the urge to go back to find my grandfather, but from a distance, facing the direction of the old house, I respectfully kowtowed three times.
What I didn’t know was that as I was kowtowing towards the old house, a white-haired old man was hiding in the door slit, watching and shedding tears.
Back home, I thought several times about persuading my dad to bring my grandfather back to live together, but when the words reached my mouth, I swallowed them back.
Grandfather's character was too reclusive and he had many quirks in his actions. I thought my dad must have his reasons for enduring the accusations of being unfilial and sending my grandfather back to live in the old house. As a son, I couldn't say much about it.
Early the next morning, my dad took me to the train station, and accompanied by the clanging of the railway tracks, I left the home that had raised me for twenty years.
Neighboring province Qianzhou was not far from home. After more than ten hours of car journey, I arrived at Qianyang, the capital of Qianzhou, at noon.
As soon as I got off the train, I received a call from my dad. The first thing he said left me stunned in place: "Your grandfather has passed away, and he went peacefully."
Grandfather was gone?