"Children, it's time to eat! Come and get your food!"
Cui Guiying, wearing an apron, called out as she tapped the edge of the porridge jar with a spoon, balancing a bowl in her left hand.
Li Weihan, who was next to her loading his water pipe, kicked her in the rear and grumbled, "Have you lost your mind? Are you calling pigs?"
With a glare at her husband, Cui Guiying slammed a stack of bowls down in front of him and retorted, "Peh! Pigs can't eat like them!"
At her call, a group of children dashed in from outside—seven boys and four girls, the eldest being sixteen and the youngest just three.
Li Weihan and Cui Guiying had four sons and one daughter. Once their children grew up, they moved out, but usually, the eldest son’s family would leave the three-year-old twins with them to raise. Yet when summer vacation rolled around, all of the families decided to send their kids over, and it turned into a bustling household that felt more like a school.
Though the couple had many grandchildren, they hadn’t yet had the chance to savor the sweetness of having such a lively home. However, they noticed their rice jar was nearly empty.
As the saying goes, "Boys can eat their father's wealth!" Even the girls were in their growing years and could eat like little monsters, their stomachs like bottomless pits, necessitating an entire jar of food just for one meal, and they still needed to keep a pot heating on the stove.
Though they were already surrounded by grandchildren, they were not old by rural standards. According to the customs of the countryside, unless one was bedridden and unable to work due to illness, as long as there was strength to till the fields, no matter how old one was, they were not entitled to the offerings of food from their children.
"Don’t shove! Don't shove! You’ll make the hungry ghosts come back for more! Line up!"
The children queued up with bowls while Cui Guiying doled out the porridge.
The last one to arrive was a ten-year-old boy wearing denim overalls and trendy sandals, his skin fair and cheeks flushed with shyness.
He looked somewhat out of place compared to his filthy siblings who were sniffling and messy from play.
"Little Yuan, come over here to eat," Cui Guiying beckoned.
"Thank you, Grandma," he replied shyly.
Cui Guiying smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair. He was the only grandson among a gaggle of cousins, but nowadays, he was hardly any different from them.
This boy was named Li Zhuiyuan, and his mother was Cui Guiying’s youngest daughter, the very first university student from Siyuan Village. After being admitted to a university in the capital, she stayed there for work after graduation, having brought her husband back home for a visit. He was a delicate, city-dwelling man.
Cui Guiying couldn’t remember his exact appearance, as she and Li Weihan felt quite shy in front of their son-in-law and couldn’t bring themselves to look closely.
After their daughter became pregnant and gave birth to a son, she became too busy working and couldn’t return home often, but ever since she graduated, she had been sending money back to her parents every month.
Li Weihan and Cui Guiying kept all that money saved up, not touching it even when it came time for their four sons to marry. They planned to give it to their daughter when she visited with her husband. However, the couple hoped to add a little something more, but with the expense of all four sons getting married, they simply couldn’t scrape together anything extra.
This always left them feeling guilty—the money their daughter sent was hers to begin with, and if they gave it back, it felt like they hadn’t contributed anything to her marriage, which honestly was quite embarrassing.
As for the monthly money sent by their daughter, they saved that too. Their sons had been prodded by their wives for various reasons to take a share of that money, but Li Weihan viciously scolded them when they tried.
Half a month earlier, their daughter had entrusted an officer in uniform to deliver her son, along with a letter and some cash. The letter revealed that she was getting a divorce and that there were recent changes at work, so she could only rely on her parents to take care of her son for a while.
She also mentioned she had changed the child’s surname to hers after the divorce, thus turning her grandson back into her biological grandson.
After arriving in the countryside, Li Zhuiyuan didn't feel out of place at all; instead, he quickly blended in, playing joyfully with his siblings from dawn till dusk.
This meal comprised sweet potato porridge, which was nice and sweet but didn't fill the stomach for long. Even after eating several big bowls until they were stuffed and their bellies round, they would be hungry again after running around for a while.
Moreover, eating sweet potato porridge too often could really hurt the stomach; even just seeing it when not hungry could make one’s stomach churn.
Li Zhuiyuan, however, wasn’t tired of it; he enjoyed the "big cafeteria" vibe, especially since Cui Guiying’s pickled vegetables and sauces were a delight.
"Grandma, why didn't we go to Big Beard's house to eat today?" asked Tiger, the son of the second uncle, who was nine this year.
Cui Guiying lightly tapped Tiger on the head with her chopsticks and scolded, "You little brat, that feast was for someone’s funeral. Do you want them to have feasts every day?"
Tiger, holding his head, replied, "Why not? It’d be great if they had a feast every day!"
"What nonsense are you talking?! Even if they wanted to, how could there be that many people dying every day?"
“Clang!” Li Weihan struck the table with his chopsticks, saying, “What kind of rubbish are you speaking to such a kid for?”
Realizing her own blunder, Cui Guiying refrained from retaliating against her husband. Instead, she scooped some of the salty sauce into Li Zhuiyuan’s bowl, where it contained some crushed peanuts and pieces of meat.
Li Zhuiyuan stirred the sauce around, watching it mix into the porridge, the white meat cubes floating on top.
The other children, noticing this, were quick to holler, "Grandma, I want meat too! The same as Yuan's!"
"I want some!"
"Me too!"
All the children clamored along.
"Enough, enough!" Cui Guiying scolded, "It's bad enough that younger siblings make a fuss; you older siblings—Panzi, Leizi, and Yingzi—should know better and be sensible! Today’s meal was bought with money sent by Little Yuan's mother. Your parents haven't given me a single grain of rice, and you still have the nerve to compete for food!"
Panzi, Leizi, and Yingzi felt a bit embarrassed, while the youngest ones giggled among themselves dismissively.
Cui Guiying had hinted before, but the parents had told them to play dumb.
At that moment, Stone, the eight-year-old from the third family, asked, "Is Little Yellow Oriole still around?"
Cui Guiying responded, "Who is Little Yellow Oriole?"
Tiger answered proudly, "Grandma, she was the one dancing and singing at Big Beard’s house yesterday! She sang beautifully and her dancing was amazing!"
"Is that so?" Cui Guiying had been busy washing dishes in the kitchen yesterday and hadn’t had a moment to see the performance.
Her husband, Li Weihan, hadn’t gone either, saying he was out on the fishing boat, but really he was at home and felt too shy to attend after already allowing Panzi, Leizi, and the four children to go eat.
The five kids not only ate well but also brought back a lot, especially rib dishes that were served per head. Li Zhuiyuan copied his older brothers by tearing off a piece of the red plastic tablecloth they used and packing up some food to take home for the siblings who couldn’t join.
When returning home, and seeing his siblings munching happily, they felt like victors returning from a battle.
Leizi said, “The singing was truly lovely, and she was beautiful. She let us all call her Little Yellow Oriole!”
Panzi nodded in agreement, “She’s such a nice girl—lovely features, and her clothes were so pretty. I want to marry a girl like that in the future!”
Cui Guiying looked down at Li Zhuiyuan and asked, “Little Yuan, is that so?”
“Yeah!” Li Zhuiyuan nodded, “She’s beautiful.”
In the rural areas, funeral performances require a certain finesse, being able to shuffle between the hall and the kitchen—donning ceremonial robes and chanting prayers during the rituals with grace, while also organizing cultural performances post-luncheon, including singing, dancing, acrobatics, and magic shows, covering all bases.
If the family had a considerable fortune, they might even invite a specific troupe for an evening show, though adults would usually send the kids home to sleep before the entertaining part began.
Little Yellow Oriole’s real name was Xiao Huangying. Though she was in her thirties and divorced, her singing and dancing skills were quite mediocre, yet her bold fashion sense set her apart. She wore a tightly fitted black qipao, stylishly slit up to her waist revealing a clear view of her legs, all topped off by the warm hospitality that came with her performances…
In the most vicious yet ultimately flattering way possible, the local women referred to her as "saucy."
In the countryside, fewer families owned TVs, and the scarce ones certainly wouldn’t let neighbors hog their seating, so with the trend not yet fully embraced in rural areas, including Little Yellow Oriole’s allure, she was truly able to captivate not just the men, but even the young boys.
Just then, a figure appeared at the doorway—it was Zhao Simei, a long-time "sister" to Cui Guiying who had few children. The two would often share gossip when they had free time.
"Have you eaten?" Cui Guiying asked, "Come, join us!"
Zhao Simei waved her hand with a smile, “Oh, I can’t just show up for a meal at your place. Look at you here; even your porridge is thin!”
“This porridge is easy on the stomach, I love it. Come, let me serve you a bowl; how could we run out of food with you here?”
“Alright, but I’ve already eaten. Hey, did you hear what happened? The troupe head just went to Big Beard’s house earlier, and it seems they smashed something and almost fought!”
At this news, Cui Guiying immediately stood up, her bowl still in hand, almost spilling porridge as she leaned towards the door to ask, “What happened? Did Big Beard's family forget to settle their payment?”
“It’s not about the performance fee; it’s about someone from the troupe going missing."
“Missing? Who?” Cui Guiying asked, her curiosity piqued.
“A girl, the one with a pretty appearance—remember how she wiggled her behind yesterday? She might as well have shown everyone!”
“Is it the Little Yellow Oriole?” Panzi asked, intrigued.
The other children perked up, wanting to know more.
“It seems so, just that saucy character,” Zhao Simei said, taking pleasure in the gossip.
“What happened? Have they found her?” Cui Guiying asked.
“They said someone saw her last night sneaking off with Big Beard's youngest son near the small forest by the river, and then she didn’t return to the troupe, so they went knocking on doors.”
"What about Big Beard's boy?"
"He was at home, claiming to have no idea about it. There were plenty of people from the village who saw him go with that saucy girl."
“What about that girl?”
“Who knows? She just vanished! The troupe head has been to demand answers, but Big Beard’s family is adamantly saying they didn’t see her, insisting that she just ran off on her own.”
“So what now?”
“Big Beard's family paid the troupe head some money—a good sum, too.”
Immediately, Cui Guiying and Zhao Simei exchanged excited glances, both agreeing on the remarkable situation.
Big Beard, after all, once held a respectable position as a deputy director at the grain station in the town, which was a comfortable role. Even after retirement, several of his sons worked around town, making them perhaps more influential in the village than even the village chief.
So the fact that Big Beard would willingly throw money at a problem suggested something wasn’t quite right!
“Did they leave after receiving the money?”
“They sure did.”
“Did they stop looking for the girl?”
“Forget it! The troupe took their equipment and left to perform at the next location.”
"Gee," Cui Guiying shook her head, “I hope nothing bad comes of this.”
“Who knows?”
“Is this true?”
“Indeed.”
Just then, both Tiger and Stone suddenly burst into tears.
“Waaah! Little Yellow Oriole! Little Yellow Oriole!”
“My Little Yellow Oriole! Where did she go? Waaah!”
Seeing this, Zhao Simei almost lost it and pointed, “Look at your two grandsons! They’re pretty stubborn!”
Cui Guiying shot her a glare and said, “Don’t you have a granddaughter? Why not pair them together?”
“Ha!” Zhao Simei scoffed, pointing at Li Zhuiyuan, “If I'm arranging marriages, I’ll make sure it’s with your little Yuan. I want my little Juan to enjoy the privileges of going to the capital with him.”
“Go, go! Don’t dream about things that won’t happen!”
Li Weihan had finished eating; he was uninterested in the gossip his wife indulged in and didn’t interject, quietly picking up his water pipe. When he opened his matchbox, though, he realized it was empty.
Li Zhuiyuan ran over and retrieved a box of matches from near the stove.
Li Weihan didn’t take it; instead, he moved his smoking pipe in front of Li Zhuiyuan.
Li Zhuiyuan smiled as he pulled a match out and struck it, “Sizzle, sizzle!” After several tries, he finally got a flame, carefully lowering the match to ignite the bowl.
Li Weihan took several puffs, feeling satisfied, a grin stretching across his face.
Back in the day, his daughter also loved to light cigarettes for him and promised to buy him cigarettes in a box when she grew up.
“Phew.”
Li Zhuiyuan blew out the match’s flame and stamped on it with his shoe.
Panzi chimed in, “Grandpa, shall we take the boat out this afternoon to pick lotus pods?”
Li Weihan glanced at the meager meal left on the table and nodded, “Let Leizi come with us; let’s grab the net and see if we can catch a few fish for your grandma to make soup.”
Upon hearing this, Tiger and Stone hurriedly forgot all about Little Yellow Oriole and chimed in, “Grandpa, I want to go too! I want to go!”
All the younger kids followed suit, worried they might miss out on some fun.
Li Weihan gave them a serious look and said sternly, “You all hear me? The river has water monkeys that pull people under to drown them to take their places in the afterlife, then they can be reborn.”
Instantly, the children fell silent, looking frightened.
Stone, however, raised a protest, “Why can’t the older brothers go?”
Panzi and Leizi, being the older kids, stepped in to scare the younger ones.
"I’m big and strong; the water monkey can’t catch me."
"I swim well; the water monkey can't catch up to me."
Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t frightened, wanting to go too, but couldn’t muster the courage to voice it. He just twiddled his fingers and peeked at his grandpa.
Li Weihan finally said, “Little Yuan can go too.”
Tiger immediately protested, “That’s unfair! Yuan is only one year older than me.”
Stone backed up the complaint, “Yeah, Yuan can’t be that strong; how can he fight off a water monkey?”
Li Weihan exhaled a cloud of smoke and calmly replied with a very reasonable excuse, one even the children could understand, “Little Yuan just came back; the water monkeys here won’t recognize him.”
...
In the village, houses were built along the water, with front doors facing the road and back doors opening to the riverbank.
When washing vegetables or clothes, it was easy enough to step out the back door and head down a few stone steps to reach the riverbank.
Those who were wise would set nets along the river just outside their homes to raise ducks and geese.
The Li family’s boat was tied to a persimmon tree behind their house. After Li Weihan untied the rope, he stepped onto the boat first, using a bamboo pole to stabilize it.
Panzi held a fishing rod while Leizi clutched a fishing net, jumping onto the boat one after the other.
Li Zhuiyuan brought a small bamboo basket, and Li Weihan helped him onto the boat.
“Alright, everyone, sit tight! We're setting off!”
As the bamboo pole dipped and rose above the water, the boat began to glide forward.
Panzi and Leizi were well accustomed to this, lounging comfortably on the boat, while Li Zhuiyuan sat stiffly upright, watching the drifting water weeds and passing dragonflies on the river surface.
“Here you go, Yuan,” Panzi offered, handing him a small handful of fried beans.
He was from the eldest family and lived nearby, often returning to grab some snacks from home. His mother had reminded him to keep his snacks for himself and not to share.
On the other hand, Li Zhuiyuan’s mother had actually sent a large bag of snacks along with him when he came, including biscuits, meat floss, and canned fruits. Just two days ago, she sent a big parcel that Cui Guiying had locked away to ration out among all the children daily.
"Thanks, Brother Panzi."
Li Zhuiyuan accepted the beans, popping one into his mouth. These beans, locally called "fava beans," were just broad beans, fried with spices and a bit of salt. They were quite aromatic.
However, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t particularly like them; they were too hard to chew and might break his teeth.
So while the two brothers continuously snapped their beans, Li Zhuiyuan carefully rolled one in his mouth, treating it like candy.
“Here comes a lively song from Thousand Brothers, drifting along; here comes a lively song from Thousand Brothers, shining bright tonight.”
Panzi started singing.
“That’s not how it goes,” Leizi laughed. “You’re singing it wrong.”
Panzi scoffed, “Hmph! If you can sing it right, go ahead and show me!”
Leizi scratched his head and muttered, “I only remember the tune.”
Li Weihan, steering the boat, asked, “What song are you singing? I can’t understand it.”
Panzi replied, “Grandpa, it’s the song from yesterday sung by Little Yellow Oriole. It's called Yue Opera.”
“Yue Opera?” Li Weihan was surprised, “You mean the song you just sang was Yue Opera?”
Leizi chimed in, “No, Grandpa! It’s Cantonese Opera from Guangdong and Hong Kong.”
“Oh, I see! Sing it well so I can listen.”
Leizi teased, “Panzi can’t sing; he doesn’t even know the lyrics, and he’s nothing compared to Little Yellow Oriole.”
In truth, Little Yellow Oriole didn’t sing perfectly either, but among the current countryside folk, the difference between her style and others wasn't significant, as nobody fully understood the nuances; it’s just the confidence in her tone.
Panzi nodded at Li Zhuiyuan, saying, “Yesterday, I saw Yuan singing along with her; he knows how to sing!”
Li Weihan said, “Little Yuan, sing a bit for Grandpa to enjoy.”
Li Zhuiyuan felt a bit shy and murmured, “I only know a little.”
“Come on, come on!” Leizi urged, “Yuan can sing Cantonese opera; he can even sing English songs!”
Finally, Li Zhuiyuan began to sing softly:
“Even if thousands of songs will drift away into the distance, they will shine bright upon my road; Even if thousands of evening stars will brighten tonight's moon.”
“I only know this much! Mom loves this song and plays it often at home.”
Leizi look back at Panzi teasingly, “Did you hear that? Your lyrics are wrong.”
Panzi rolled his eyes dramatically at Leizi.
As the boys kept chatting, they finally reached a wider section of the river.
Panzi got up to help grandpa with the bamboo pole, while Li Weihan scouted for spots and prepared his net. Leizi set up his fishing rod.
Li Zhuiyuan didn’t have any assigned tasks; he sat with his bamboo basket contentedly, watching the busy men of the family while glancing at the water’s lush vegetation and frogs hopping by.
As he stared, he sensed something unusual and leaned forward to get a better look.
Li Weihan had been keeping an eye on his “grandson” and warned, “Little Yuan, sit back a bit; don’t fall in!”
Li Zhuiyuan pointed ahead and asked, “Grandpa, brother, what’s that black mass in the water?”
“Where?” Leizi followed Li Zhuiyuan’s finger and exclaimed, “Hey, there really is something black!”
“Where? Where?” Panzi, at the back of the boat handling the bamboo pole, couldn’t see clearly so he began to guide the boat towards it.
At first, Li Weihan didn’t pay much attention. He was focused on loosening his fishing net, but upon hearing Li Zhuiyuan and Leizi chatter more, he finally looked up and instantly froze.
What they had seen wasn’t just weeds—no, this was the unmistakable sight of hair.
As Panzi continued to steer the boat closer, the murky underbelly began to reveal itself—curving outlines, starkly contrasting colors, and unmistakable signs of a person…
Since Li Zhuiyuan was seated, the first to notice the underwater sight was Leizi standing next to him, who quickly shouted, “Grandpa! That’s a person! Someone’s drowning! Panzi, get over there and save them!”
Stories about water monkeys were barely effective against older children, as their innate kindness urged them to think someone might need help.
“Bullshit!”
Li Weihan suddenly roared, the loving demeanor usually shown to the children replaced with an uncharacteristic display of anger; his calloused hand tightened around his fishing net, he rushed to the back of the boat, urgently shouting to Panzi, “Turn around, row away from that thing! Don’t get close!”
Initially, they had been in the water for a while without any sounds of someone drowning; it was currently still and peaceful. There couldn’t possibly be anyone in need of rescue; surely that person was already long gone!
Despite reasoning that encountering a drowned person might simply result in an ominous feeling, why was Li Weihan suddenly enveloped with dread?
Yet, he understood in this moment that he must distance himself as quickly as possible.
In this region, water fatalities were not rare occurrences; most villages had someone to retrieve corpses from the water, and each has its designated individual.
Li Sanjiang, an elderly villager without children, preferred renting out his land rather than planting crops himself; his current occupations were crafting paper offerings and retrieving drowned bodies—two ways he made good money, often more than just farming would yield.
Li Weihan had once rented land from him in order to help his sons establish homes, so he felt an implied debt. Whenever a recovery job was needed, he would help Li Sanjiang prepare the offerings on the shore while his family would handle the bodies.
Still, Li Sanjiang had explained to him never to touch the bodies directly; he would always just ask Li Weihan to set up offerings and chant beside the shore.
Over time, Li Weihan picked up bits about what he called “business.”
In their ambiguous lore, a floating corpse was termed "die dao."
Typically, a drowned person would take a few days to surface once their body began to decompose; men often appeared facedown, while women floated face-up.
Most corpses were retrieved following a standard process, and Li Sanjiang would bring them back to shore for the families. Yet there had been two instances he carefully detailed that he wouldn’t dare touch.
One involved a corpse caught in swirling eddies, suggesting a strong current could flip boats and claim lives.
The second type, however, made even Li Sanjiang shudder with fear…
Those involved corpses that merely manifested hair above the water’s surface; the dead standing below.
This exhibit a deep-seated resentment, a lack of rest until a living counterpart was pulled down as compensation!
Li Weihan still recalled that intoxicated night when Li Sanjiang had looked at him through bloodshot eyes and stated with utmost seriousness, “Han Hou, remember: if you ever see that sort of corpse in the water, don’t think twice—just get out of there as fast as you can! If you linger, it’ll drag you under with it!”
When Li Weihan recognized what they were witnessing was that terrifying “standing corpse,” how could he not freak out? With three little grandchildren on board, nothing could be more alarming!
Amidst their curiosity, Panzi couldn’t connect Li Weihan’s worry with his personal experience. When grandpa lunged to snatch away the pole from him, he stumbled, causing the boat to tip dangerously to the side.
Balanced boaters like Leizi remained calm, quickly grabbing hold of the edge to regain stability. But Li Zhuiyuan, sitting there without any experience, was thrown by inertia and fell into the water, right next to the spot where the dead corpse floated.
The river was clear, and the sunlight sparkled, making the flowing water glimmer beautifully.
Upon falling, Li Zhuiyuan instinctively flailed but quickly froze at the sight before him.
Just like Leizi had said, there was someone standing in the water, and that person was none other than Little Yellow Oriole, whom the brothers had mentioned just at the dining table!
She wore her performance attire—the black qipao with white floral patterns, sliced up the side to her waist, and she still sported the striking red high-heels.
The water flowed peacefully around her; propelled by the current, her arms swayed rhythmically, her legs moving in gentle oscillation.
The scene resembled her walking underwater.
She was waving her hands, twisting her waist, showing off her legs, tiptoeing, and singing…
Even submerged, she exuded the same alluring spirit that both enchanted and bothered the local women.
“Even if thousands of songs will drift away into the distance, they will shine bright upon my road…”
Li Zhuiyuan could almost hear her distinct accent in Cantonese echoing in his ears.
Accompanied by her song,
Little Yellow Oriole slowly turned to face Li Zhuiyuan.
Her long hair billowed gracefully above her head like an elegant black umbrella, her makeup accentuated even more, with vivid lips full of color.
Suddenly,
She smiled.
(End of this chapter)