Du Xiaolan's expression changed as well. She used to not believe in ghosts and gods. But after experiencing so many bizarre things with me, she seemed very uneasy at that moment.
Uncle Bi seemed not to have heard what I said clearly and asked in confusion if he could go back. I looked at the water again, but the person standing there didn't reappear. Finally, I nodded and we returned the way we came.
When we reached his house, Uncle Bi sighed for a while, then looked at me and complained. After a while, he got up and walked into a room, came out holding a photo in his arms.
As Uncle Bi sat down, he handed me the photo and said, "Mr. Yin, this is a photo of my son. Can you see what kind of wife I can find for him?"
I smiled bitterly, took the photo, turned it over, and when I saw the black and white portrait, I hurriedly threw the frame away.
Du Xiaolan picked up the frame, turned to me with a puzzled look, and asked, "Mingyang, what's wrong with you? This is a portrait. What if it's broken?"
I cleared my throat, looked at Uncle Bi, and saw how nervous he was, as if he was really afraid the portrait would be damaged. I quickly apologized, then turned to Du Xiaolan and whispered in her ear, "The man on the boat just now is him."
"Really!" Du Xiaolan took a glance and, without considering the situation, exclaimed in front of Uncle Bi.
I hurriedly gestured to her, and Du Xiaolan quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes widening as if she had just eaten something disgusting.
This was not the time to worry about embarrassment. I stood up abruptly, grabbed Du Xiaolan's arm, and walked out.
Looking at the villagers in the village, I said in a low voice, "Bi Ping is dead, but his soul has appeared on the boat. What do you make of this?"
Du Xiaolan furrowed her eyebrows, thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped her head and said, "I know, this is ferrying souls!"
My urgent expression froze for a moment, and I looked at her helplessly with a sigh.
Du Xiaolan punched me and asked, "What do you mean? After Bipin's death, he may have really become a Yin judge and gone to ferry the souls."
"You're talking nonsense!" I found it increasingly difficult to communicate with Du Xiaolan and turned and walked into the villa.
Du Xiaolan called out to me from behind, then followed me.
Uncle Bi looked at us with a bewildered expression and asked about what we had just said about the man on the boat. I told him we were having a private conversation and picked up the photo frame to look at it again.
From the photo, Bipin did indeed look to be in his thirties, but he was quite handsome. Due to working on the water all year round, his skin was very dark.
In theory, this kind of vigorous young man should have inexhaustible energy, but the paper mill boss Ning Junhao said he had certain difficulties in a certain aspect, which was really difficult to understand.
In the quiet environment, Uncle Bi hesitated for a while, and finally clapped his hands, got up, and asked us to go around first while he went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
After he walked into the kitchen, I also got up and left.
The villas in this village are extremely neat, and the cars are also high-end. After walking around, I noticed a very strange phenomenon. Most of the people in this village are elderly, and there are very few young and middle-aged people, and even fewer children.
Du Xiaolan seemed to realize this problem too and said as we walked, "It's really strange. In theory, these relocated households should be living like rich people, but it seems that the young people have left, leaving only the elderly."
I nodded in agreement. It was the first time that this bimbo had said something serious.
But no matter what, these were all other people's affairs, and I couldn't just go and ask these elderly people why their children had left.
After walking around, the more I looked, the more envious and jealous I became. In the end, I simply went back to Uncle Bi's house and sat in the living room, ready to eat.
Before I could even warm my seat, Uncle Bi walked out of the kitchen with two plates in his hands. When he placed them on the coffee table, my mouth began to water uncontrollably.
One plate was braised pork and the other was pig's head meat, they looked and smelled excellent. If it wasn't in someone else's house, I would have definitely grabbed my chopsticks and feasted.
But Uncle Bi said there were two more dishes in the kitchen, and when they were brought out, I couldn't help but feel that the life of a rich person was indeed different. But when I heard Uncle Bi say that he basically ate fish and meat every day, I couldn't help but want to be his godson.
I couldn't understand the life of the rich, but at Uncle Bi's urging, I picked up my chopsticks and picked up a piece of braised pork, chewed on it a couple of times, and couldn't help but frown.
Du Xiaolan looked almost the same as me, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, as if she might spit it out at any moment.
From appearance and smell, the braised pork was excellent, but when eaten, it had no taste, as if it were raw meat.
Forcing it down my throat, I picked up another dish and took a bite. They all tasted pretty much the same, not bad, but definitely not delicious.
After swallowing it all, Uncle Bi smiled and asked me how it tasted. I could only lie and say it tasted really good, the best I've ever had.
Uncle Bi smiled again and put a lot of food in my bowl, saying that his cooking was a unique feature of the entire village.
In my heart, I thought, indeed, this is a unique taste, you're probably the only one who can create such a taste in the entire village.
Du Xiaolan, on the other hand, casually ate a few bites and said she had been dieting recently, then put down her chopsticks and kept urging me to eat quickly, not to waste food.
Uncle Bi picked up a bottle of six-year-old whiskey and asked if I wanted to drink, but I kept shaking my head, saying that I still had work to do later, so I wouldn't touch the alcohol.
He didn't force the issue, drinking and eating vegetables at the same time. I ate a few bites symbolically and then stopped using my chopsticks. Uncle Bi enjoyed his food, and I wrinkled my nose. The taste of this old man really is different from ours, the young people.
After waiting for him to finish eating, I wiped my mouth and asked, "Uncle Bi, what kind of daughter-in-law do you want for Bi Ping?"
Uncle Bi sighed, finished off the last drop of white wine in his cup, and then said, "I don't have any specific requirements. As long as the girl is willing to be with Bi Ping, it's fine with me."
I said it's easy, and asked why Bi Ping, who's in his thirties, wasn't married yet. The answer was the same as what the owner of the paper-cut shop, Ning Junhao, said. When Bi Ping was a child, he was mischievous and got into trouble. When he climbed a tree to take a bird's nest, he fell from the tree and was injured, leaving behind an embarrassing aftereffect.
I then asked if he had found a daughter-in-law, and Uncle Bi's face lit up with a proud smile as he said, "I've found quite a few, but most of them are not very willing to go through with the marriage. There was one who did agree relatively, but she was still somewhat reluctant."