Lunch was quite a feast. It was originally prepared to entertain guests, but the guests had left. However, most people at the small tables had a bit more variety in their dishes, though the portions remained about the same. Only Runsheng had his one big bowl turned into two large bowls.
Li Sanjiang noticed this and couldn't help but scold, "Damn it, why don't you just eat from a bathtub!"
Runsheng, a bit happy, asked, "Can I?"
Li Sanjiang rolled his eyes in disbelief. Runsheng then realized he misunderstood and smiled sheepishly. He quickly grabbed his chopsticks with one hand and a spoon with the other, alternating to eat.
Li Zhuiyuan looked at the drunken shrimp in front of him, which had been soaked in white wine and was paired with scallions, ginger, and garlic to remove the fishy smell. He picked one up, put it in his mouth, and with a gentle bite, the shrimp meat came out, tasting delicious.
He then picked up a drunken mud snail, bit the front end with his teeth, and slowly pushed it out of the shell. The snail meat was small and crunchy. Eating this required caution; if you rushed, you might end up chewing on sand from inside the snail.
Coastal areas generally have a tradition of eating raw pickled food, which is a delicacy for those used to it. But for most inland people, such dishes were simply terrifying. It made sense, as raw pickling does carry a significant risk of parasites.
After a light taste, Li Zhuiyuan noticed that A Li showed no interest in the two dishes and hadn’t touched them at all. He stood up to take the dishes to Li Sanjiang, hoping he would enjoy them with his drink.
"Give it to me," said Liu Yumei.
Li Zhuiyuan then brought the drunken shrimp and mud snail to Liu Yumei and Aunt Liu's table.
"Not used to it?"
"Yeah."
"Good stuff, but you don’t know how to enjoy it."
Liu Yumei quickly ate two drunken mud snails and took a sip of her yellow wine. Aunt Liu smiled and said, "A Li doesn’t like these either."
Liu Yumei shook her head, "A Li just finds it troublesome."
Then Liu Yumei asked Li Zhuiyuan, "What were the people who came this morning planning to do?"
"Buy a house. They liked the one from the big-bearded man."
"Oh, how's that house?"
"Very spacious, and the fish pond is quite large. They are in a hurry to sell it for a low price. Grandma, are you interested in taking a look?"
"What would I go look for? I have no money to buy."
"Even if you don't buy, looking is fine."
"No money to buy, and if I go look, I’ll just be more upset at night. Besides, I’m not from this village, and according to the rules, I can't buy it anyway. In any case, everything has to be done according to the public rules."
Li Zhuiyuan understood this was Liu Yumei's way of reminding him to report it to the police and not to mess things up himself.
"The police are busy too. Plus, isn’t there a slogan about police-civilian cooperation on the wall outside the station?"
Liu Yumei looked deeply at the boy in front of her, raised her yellow wine, took a sip, and said lightly, "Even in a group of monkeys, there’s a mountain king."
Meaning that among these water monkeys, there really is a tough character.
Li Zhuiyuan spoke up, "It could just be a general among short people."
"Hehe." Liu Yumei chuckled and waved her chopsticks, "Let’s eat, kid."
Li Zhuiyuan returned to his small table.
Aunt Liu lowered her voice and asked, "Should I go see what book Xiao Yuan is looking at?"
Earlier, the boy's words had hinted at the matter of the fish pond in Sihai Family, implying that if he could recognize the wrong bait hole and fall, no matter how skilled he was, it would still be limited.
This realization had alarmed Aunt Liu more than when the boy asked her if she had poison in the morning. The latter indicated a childish nature, while the former suggested that this child seemed to have really entered the door, and quite deeply.
Liu Yumei shook her head, "If that child hadn't come earlier, looking at the books in Li Sanjiang's basement would still have some meaning; now that the child has seen the path, going to look again would just pull him in. Are you eager to meet A Li?"
"How could that be? You need someone to serve you."
"Though I've lived a long time, I can't cook."
Aunt Liu said, "In that case, the books in Sanjiang Uncle's basement must be quite extraordinary."
"Indeed, he mentioned that during the Cultural Revolution, several groups of people specifically stored books with him."
"Then it seems those groups of people were not ordinary."
"There’s no such reason in this world that only we have good eyesight while others are blind."
"You have a point."
Liu Yumei had more to say but kept it to herself. After all, no matter how extraordinary the books were, they were still just books. The more extraordinary they were, the harder they were to understand. Many people spent their whole lives without truly grasping a single book of the Xuanmen.
She enjoyed sitting on the terrace sipping tea, while the boy sat above her reading, remembering how he flipped through books like they were comic books, one after another. If it were truly an extraordinary Xuanmen treasure, and he read it this way, it would be quite unreasonable.
But the reality seemed to be right there. When he first moved in, he was just a child scared by death; now, he could not only distinguish between bait holes and main holes but could also personally guide the dead.
A child like this, before the liberation, would probably have been fought over by families wanting him to inherit their legacy.
Sigh...
If the spirit they worshiped wasn’t a dead plaque, and if there were any spirit left, it would probably make a fuss at night, urging them to take on disciples.
It might even lead to a debate over whether to follow Qin or Liu, with both families arguing over the plaque.
Look...
Liu Yumei lifted the wine jug and poured herself another cup.
Once A Li's illness is cured, as a token of gratitude, she might pass on the "Liu Family Qi Observation Technique" to him.
After Li Zhuiyuan returned, he settled down to enjoy his lunch. There were some things he had to clarify with Grandma Liu, and he needed to express his attitude as well. After all, he still needed Aunt Liu to back him up.
Although the matter would happen at the big-bearded man's house, if he couldn’t manage it and it went wrong, it might also affect his own family. At that time, he would need to ask Aunt Liu to go back home to help Uncle Qin take care of his uncle.
After lunch, Runsheng, with a full belly, didn’t plan to rest and wanted to continue working in the workshop.
Li Zhuiyuan stopped him and handed him a few blueprints: "Runsheng, can you help me make these first? I need them urgently."
Runsheng took the blueprints without looking at them and said, "Sure."
He trusted that Xiao Yuan wouldn’t give him blueprints he couldn’t understand or make.
Li Zhuiyuan then went to the room with Qin Li. He continued to pick and choose from the ten taboos. A Li held a carving knife and continued to carve.
The desk was large enough for the boy and girl to do their own things without disturbing each other.
In the end, Li Zhuiyuan selected two taboos. In fact, among all the books he had read, there were many types of taboos, but many lacked the conditions for realization. Even among the ten he had carefully selected, at least half had been eliminated due to overly complex success conditions.
Some necessary materials had names he could understand, but he didn’t know what they were in reality, and their prefixes often spanned hundreds or thousands of years.
Others required special triggering tools that were as complicated to make as crafting evil artifacts, with human skin drums involved and specifying the age of the boys and girls to be selected.
Even more required him to build an underground palace in a special environment, gather Yin and Yang feng shui, and then place a little yellow oriole inside.
To be honest, if he had such conditions, would he still need to rack his brain to deal with those water monkeys?
The final two selected were:
One was to change the corpse-raising ground into a killing ground through initial feng shui changes, somewhat like splashing water into an oil pan.
The other was to wrap a scripture banner around the little yellow oriole, triggering its resentment to boil. He needed to pay attention to the effect of the scripture banner, as a strong wind could extinguish a fire, but a gentle breeze could make it burn even brighter.
However, at his current level, he only needed to worry about whether he could create wind, not about it being too strong.
These two were the easiest to implement from a practical perspective. Moreover, the effects were similar to a stimulant; after using it on the little yellow oriole, she would immediately fall into a deep lethargy, preventing any loss of control later.
Li Zhuiyuan had already asked Runsheng to handcraft the materials for the array flags. As for the specific usage, he needed to redesign it, at least clarifying which points of feng shui needed to be altered, which required a lot of deduction and calculation.
He opened a drawer, pulled out a roll of white paper, and cut a piece according to his needs.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up a pen and ruler, starting to draw the pond and surrounding terrain of the big-bearded man’s house based on his memories from that night.
Having been influenced by his parents since childhood and with a good memory, he finished the drawing in about half an hour.
It was much more detailed than a sketch, omitting many unnecessary details, and when he held it up by the edges, it had a somewhat photographic effect.
Li Zhuiyuan used double-sided tape to stick it on the wall and stood there staring at it.
However, as he looked, he gradually frowned.
The reason he chose to draw it out, like using draft paper, was to reduce the burden on his mind, but this drawing... didn’t seem to help at all.
Because feng shui phenomena cannot be drawn with clear lines; when he calculated, he still had to form a realistic picture in his mind first, then add the feng shui phenomena and finally perform the deduction.
This drawing was a bit of a waste of effort.
He couldn’t use this method; he needed to use an ink wash painting style.
Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs. The family ran a paper-cutting business, and the first floor had all the necessary paints and brushes. He picked a set and ran back.
He cut a new piece of paper, laid it on the table, and picked up the brush to start drawing.
But as he drew, he felt something was off again.
It wasn’t that the method was wrong; the method was definitely correct. The key was... he couldn’t draw.
He had seen many talented classmates in his class, but everyone just learned quickly; no one was born knowing everything.
In a professional field, skipping the learning process, that genius was no different from an idiot.
This was also why he could never win against A Li in Go; she had clearly studied it, while he hadn’t.
Though the most direct way would be to go to the site and see the position, now that the water monkeys had their eyes on the big-bearded man’s house, it was impossible not to attract attention if he carelessly went there.
The key was that this wasn’t something that could be resolved with just a glance; it required extensive deduction and calculation, so he couldn’t go to the site; the risk was too great.
Aunt Liu could definitely draw; he had observed her techniques when she colored paper figures, and she clearly had a deep foundation in painting.
Grandma Liu could also draw; she often enjoyed leaning on a table, using a brush to design clothes for A Li.
But neither of these two would help him with this drawing.
Li Zhuiyuan sighed, left the room, and went to the workshop.
He pushed open the door, where Runsheng was diligently handcrafting iron pestles, which would be used as flagpoles.
"Xiao Yuan, you’re here."
Runsheng handed Li Zhuiyuan a large ceramic cup.
The ceramic cup was a bit dirty, filled with patchouli leaves.
Li Zhuiyuan took it and drank a couple of big gulps. After handing it back, Runsheng gulped it down in one go, then picked up the kettle on the small stove and refilled the ceramic cup with hot water.
"I was wondering why it was so hot. Runsheng, why did you bring the stove inside?"
"Hehe, sometimes a little heat helps with the crafting. It’s a bit hot, but just drink more water; it’s no big deal."
"You need to take care of your health."
"My health is just fine, don’t worry. I’ve eaten enough."
Li Zhuiyuan knew that from Runsheng's perspective, as long as he was full, it seemed like nothing was a problem.
The workshop conditions were indeed simple, and the space was a bit small. It would be great if they could set up a professional studio in the future, with their own electric furnace, machine tools, and cutting machines. That way, it would be convenient to create anything.
But for now, it was just a thought.
"Brother, I need to tell you something."
"Okay, Xiao Yuan, go ahead." Runsheng continued with his work without stopping.
Li Zhuiyuan shared the matter about the water monkeys.
Runsheng was surprised, "Xiao Yuan, you didn’t tell me when they came this morning because you were afraid I’d slip up?"
"Yeah."
"What a pity; I’ve seen similar scenes on TV, and I think I could act it out."
"Don’t rush; you can refine your acting skills and do it later."
"Yeah!"
Runsheng wiped his sweat with a black and white towel, "So, Xiao Yuan, are we going to poke them when they try to dig that grave?"
As he spoke, Runsheng raised the iron pestle he had just polished and made a "poke" gesture.
"Maybe we won’t even need to act; the little yellow oriole might take care of them all."
"That would be a shame; watching others act while we can’t join in feels unsatisfying. In movies, it usually goes like this: the little yellow oriole takes them out first, then one of them shows up to subdue her, and at the critical moment, we make our entrance."
"You’ve already planned it out?"
"Well, you have to think about it; that’s what makes working fun."
"Runsheng, you keep busy; I’ll head up first."
"Alright, don’t worry, go think about your things; I’ll handle it here."
Inspired by Runsheng's excitement, Li Zhuiyuan also tidied up his emotions, planning to tackle that difficult problem. Even if he couldn’t draw it on draft paper, he could calculate it hard; at worst, he’d just have another nosebleed.
However, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t go upstairs first; instead, he headed to the kitchen, as it was the time when Aunt Liu was preparing medicine for him.
"Xiao Yuan, you’re here! Hehe, this bowl is for you, and this bowl is for the dog."
"Thank you, Aunt Liu. This bowl is for me, right?"
Li Zhuiyuan confirmed again; he didn’t want to drink the wrong one.
"Yes, that’s right. Drink up."
The medicine was very bitter, and Li Zhuiyuan drank it steadily, finally finishing it with difficulty.
"Aunt Liu, this medicine is quite expensive, right?"
"Not at all; it’s just some common tonics. It takes a bit of effort to brew them to bring out their properties and harmonize them, and that’s it. But Xiao Yuan, as you said, you often have nosebleeds and dizziness, so you need to take care of your health and not let it cause a deficit that harms your vitality."
"I understand, Aunt Liu."
"Also, it’s best to drink this medicine in the morning, preferably right after getting up, to follow the morning energy, helping the body revive, and then with the medicinal soup, the effect is best. How about this: I’ll have A Li bring it to you in the morning from now on, since A Li needs to go to your room anyway."
Li Zhuiyuan nodded, "Okay."
He didn’t refuse because he knew this was Grandma Liu and the others wanting to speed things up, assigning extra tasks to A Li under the pretense of helping him.
Although the thought of it felt a bit strange. Every morning, just as he opened his eyes, a girl would come in with medicine.
But for his health and to help the girl’s condition improve, he still had to drink it.
In the past, there were indeed classmates who often got sick, and Li Zhuiyuan thought he wouldn’t have that problem since he and Li Lan had the same illness. But Li Lan had always been fine and could even eat and sleep outdoors.
The issue was that now he was dealing with these things, and calculating them was far more complex and mentally exhausting than solving math problems.
The little black dog was sleeping in its doghouse. When Li Zhuiyuan approached with the medicine bowl, it opened its eyes, yawned, and drank the entire bowl before lying back down to continue sleeping.
After this period of feeding, with good food, good drink, and good medicine, the little black dog’s fur had become shinier, and Li Zhuiyuan noticed its tongue was also black. The only white thing left on it was its teeth.
This was the dog Aunt Liu had chosen for him, and its appearance should be quite special.
Upstairs, entering the room, Li Zhuiyuan planned to roll up some paper balls for himself before tackling the calculations. But he saw A Li, although still at the desk, had moved to his original spot.
The girl was no longer holding the carving knife but a brush.
As he got closer, he confirmed that she was indeed painting and had almost finished, just wrapping up.
Upon closer inspection, Li Zhuiyuan’s eyes widened; she was drawing the pond scene he had stuck on the wall and had even captured the atmospheric effects.
The difficult problem that had troubled him and the price of his nosebleed had been solved by the girl.
With the last stroke, A Li put down the brush, dipped her finger in the cup, and gently sprinkled water on the paper, allowing the ink to spread further and the atmosphere to become clearer.
It was complete.
The girl turned and looked at the boy.
"A Li, you’re truly a genius."
Hearing the praise, the girl’s eyes seemed to curve slightly.
Then she stood up, reached out, and wrapped her arms around the boy's neck.
Li Zhuiyuan felt it might be necessary to find a more suitable way to act cute in front of A Li next time, or to secretly tell the old man to change his response style. Otherwise, every time this happened, it would ruin the mood.
But for now, he could only gently pat the girl’s head and say, "Whatever A Li wants, I’ll buy it for you. I have money, plenty of it."
Agreement reached.
A Li, satisfied, released her hold and sat back in her place.
Li Zhuiyuan sat down, staring at the painting, starting to calculate.
Every twenty minutes, he would pick up his pen and mark a point on the drawing, indicating where the flags needed to be placed.
In the end, he marked a total of twelve points. Even if all twelve flags were placed, it would still lack a central point, but that wasn’t a concern; the central point would be the little yellow oriole herself.
Next came the materials for the flags. The pole part would be taken care of by Runsheng, but the tricky part was the flag surface. Ordinary fabric would flutter in the wind, making it unsuitable for presentation. It needed to be a fixed surface, preferably made of high-quality Yin wood, so that after carving patterns on it, the effect could be maximized in a short time.
Originally, Li Zhuiyuan planned to go to the graveyard with Runsheng that night. There was no need to dig, as there were often broken coffin boards exposed.
But now...
Li Zhuiyuan turned to look at the wooden flower rolls in front of A Li and the half-split plaque at her feet. It seemed there were better materials available.
For example, these ancestral plaques.
...
When they finished eating, the village chief arrived.
With a beaming smile, the village chief repeatedly said that Uncle Sanjiang had received good news. He then took out several handwritten documents, already stamped with the village committee's seal, along with the signatures and fingerprints of the big-bearded man's wife and eldest son.
Li Sanjiang marveled at how fast Ding Dalin was; had he already bought a retirement house?
But when he looked down at the document's content, his expression froze: "Why is it the big-bearded man's house?"
The village chief seemed to have received a kickback from the middleman and smiled, "A house and fish pond for free. Just say whether you want it; he has already settled the money. You sign this, and if he has a black heart, he can just turn around and kick the people out. Even if he wants to sue you, he won't win."
"But I warned him not to buy the big-bearded man's house."
"It's cheap. I see he’s a returned overseas Chinese, but he probably hasn’t made much money. If he really had money to invest in his hometown, the town would directly give him a new plot of land."
"That makes sense."
Although he felt unlucky about the big-bearded man's house, Li Sanjiang still signed the document, following the principle of not turning down free things. At worst, once Ding Dalin left, he could have Xiao Yuan sell the house again.
"That’s settled. They probably can’t wait to return home to live, so tomorrow they’ll find someone to clean up, and the day after tomorrow they’ll officially move in. At that time, they’ll invite a theater troupe to come play and treat the whole village to a feast."
"That will be quite a celebration. The big-bearded man's yard hasn’t stopped hosting feasts lately."
"Hehe, we’re just saying this now. When we go to their place to join in the fun the day after tomorrow, we must keep our mouths shut. I’ll remind the other villagers too."
"I know."
"Oh, right, he said when inviting villagers to eat, he wouldn’t collect any contributions."
"I’ll still give something."
"Yes, you should. Consider it your contribution for your own house."
Li Sanjiang nodded, pulling out two cigarettes for the village chief, who took one.
"Alright, that’s it. Uncle Sanjiang, I’ll head back first. You all continue eating."
Li Sanjiang lit his cigarette and said to Li Zhuiyuan, "Xiao Yuan, the old man has earned you a house."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
"This isn’t much. Just wait, I’ll save up some more money here, and before I close my eyes, I’ll definitely get you a place in the city for your wedding."
As he spoke, Li Sanjiang deliberately glanced at the distant table where Liu Yumei was eating. Seemingly worried she hadn’t heard, he raised his voice:
"Our Xiao Yuan must live in the city after getting married!"
Hmph, let that city woman look down on people again.
Liu Yumei lifted her wine glass, taking a sip. She couldn’t be bothered to get angry with the show-off old man.
The Qin and Liu families both had ancestral homes in Suhuai and Yang, and years ago, they even donated several residences to the state as cultural heritage sites.
However, just because the two children were getting along well now didn’t mean they would necessarily follow the path of childhood friends to marriage.
Liu Yumei actually just wanted to cure her granddaughter’s illness and had never seriously considered turning that Li boy into her granddaughter’s husband.
Since ancient times, wealthy families sought sons-in-law who were honest and upright, not those who were clever and capable. If they chose someone who was too capable, they might not be able to control him, and in the future, the family business could end up in his hands, leaving them with nothing.
After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan drew the patterns for the array flags.
Then he went downstairs to the kitchen and personally cooked ten packs of three-flavor noodles to send to Runsheng.
Runsheng was still up late working on the iron. When he saw the large bowl of noodles topped with two thick sausages, he was so happy his mouth almost reached the sky.
After reminding him to rest early, Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs to shower and sleep.
When he woke up, Li Zhuiyuan stretched lazily and turned his head.
He saw a girl in a red dress holding a bowl of medicine standing at the door.
This was the first time he saw her since she had already been coaxed to sleep by Li Zhuiyuan the night before.
"This little girl is so pretty; she’s even more beautiful than the stars on posters."
Runsheng sat up, stretched his neck, and reminded, "Don’t get too close to her."
"Why?"
"Except for Xiao Yuan, no one can get close to her."
"Is there such a rule?"
As the sun rose, Tan Wenbin felt that Runsheng wasn’t so scary anymore.
"It’s not a rule."
Runsheng had always been sensitive in this regard. He remembered the first time he wanted to go upstairs to approach Xiao Yuan and A Li, A Li’s body had trembled.
At that time, the little girl had felt more terrifying than the scariest dead body he had ever seen.
"Breakfast is ready!"
Aunt Liu's voice rang out like a clock, waking everyone up on time.
Li Zhuiyuan and A Li went downstairs. Today, he didn’t let A Li feed him medicine, nor did he wash his hair.
Tan Wenbin cheerfully tried to join them for breakfast.
"Brother Bin..." Li Zhuiyuan quickly held A Li’s hand to remind him.
"You come eat with me!"
Runsheng grabbed Tan Wenbin by the neck, lifting him like a chick and placing him in his dining corner.
Tan Wenbin forgot how breakfast was eaten, but after the meal, his eyes were red and stinging from the aroma.
Early on, the big-bearded man's house was bustling with drums and gongs, and loudspeakers were blasting music.
The villagers had all been notified by the village chief yesterday that a former overseas Chinese from the village had returned to settle down and invited everyone to a housewarming feast.
Moreover, it was stated that everyone could come to eat without paying any contributions.
Now, the whole village, young and old, had come early to see the excitement.
Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng also arrived, followed closely by Tan Wenbin, who insisted on coming along.
"What about him tonight? He’s very curious," Runsheng asked while making a chopping motion in front of Li Zhuiyuan, "Should we knock him out?"
Li Zhuiyuan's eyelids twitched. He was afraid Runsheng would get too into character and not control his strength, accidentally knocking someone out.
"No need to go that far; just tie him up."
"Okay."
Li Zhuiyuan began to observe the banquet layout for today.
Since so many people were invited, they couldn’t fit everything in the yard and the first floor, so it extended down to the fields, where a tent was set up.
Additionally, the theater troupe’s performance area was set up by the fish pond, with loudspeakers and drums placed there.
Li Zhuiyuan knew this was to cover up the noise during the night’s grave robbing.
Since it was a full-day feast, it meant there would be performances day and night; during the day, they sang for the living, and at night, they sang for the dead.
The idea was to manage both the yin and yang thoroughly, symbolizing smooth sailing in the future.
However, full-day feasts were rare in rural areas now because the performance fees at night were several times higher than during the day, and ordinary families were unwilling to spend that extra money to perform for ghosts.
With drums and loudspeakers, no matter how much noise was made at night, the villagers wouldn’t find it strange.
Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but feel in his heart that this was professionalism; they were willing to invest, buying houses and treating the entire village to a feast.
The theater troupe had already started performing, surrounded by a crowd. Li Zhuiyuan pretended to be curious, leading Runsheng around the performance stage, and then purposely went to a less crowded spot across from the fish pond to relieve himself.
This was actually to help Runsheng determine the coordinates for placing the flags.
"Did you remember everything, Runsheng?"
"Don’t worry; I’ve remembered it all."
"When the time comes, I’ll bring two to insert, and the rest will be up to you."
The flags were a bit heavy, and Li Zhuiyuan could only carry two at a time.
"What about me? What about me?" Tan Wenbin followed along, unbuckling his belt, "How many can I take?"
Li Zhuiyuan reassured him, "Don’t worry, you’ll handle the rest."
"I guarantee I’ll complete the task." Although he didn’t know what the task was, he just wanted to participate.
The banquet began at noon.
Li Zhuiyuan sat down with Tan Wenbin and Li Sanjiang on the first floor.
Tan Wenbin curiously asked, "Where’s Runsheng? Why isn’t he eating?"
"Runsheng is eating at home, and also, don’t talk."
"Got it."
Tan Wenbin made an "ok" gesture.
Runsheng needed to eat with incense; this action attracted too much attention. Usually, when he went to a banquet with the old man, the old man would separately serve him food and let him find a corner to eat alone.
In today’s situation, he certainly couldn’t raise the water monkeys’ suspicions.
The quality of the banquet was very high, with local chefs invited. After Tan Wenbin stopped talking, he ate with a shine of oil all over his mouth.
After the banquet, many villagers felt guilty and wanted to contribute money but were refused. They all went home to bring some gifts instead.
The entire afternoon was spent watching performances, and at night, the performances were for the dead. Except for the performers, no one would come to watch.
This theater troupe was of high quality, with singers, dancers, acrobats, and even performers doing contortion and breaking stones with their chests.
Li Zhuiyuan noticed that the performers behind were all skilled.
From the details of the performers’ habits, it was clear they were trained to deal with the dead.
It seemed that if those two who had contracted the fish pond hadn’t been taken down by the Yin Red Evil from the bait hole, with their skills, it would have been difficult for the police to catch them.
At the same time, it also indirectly confirmed that Grandma Liu’s assessment of this group of water monkeys was correct.
Because this was definitely not a makeshift group; this was a very professional water monkey troupe.
After all, those who were simply looking to rob graves for profit wouldn’t all specially train to handle the dead.
It seemed that if the little yellow oriole faced them, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.
However, looking at the lively scene in front of him, Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholic.
The first time he saw the little yellow oriole was also in such a lively setting, when she was performing on stage.
It was she who gave him a shock of wild aesthetic beauty from the countryside when he first arrived.
Li Zhuiyuan’s gaze fell on the surface of the fish pond, wondering if the little yellow oriole in the pond was also watching the performance.
Deep down, did she harbor resentment against that funeral troupe that had taken the money and then ignored her?
Just then, Jin Secretary, who had just changed into a tight black outfit after finishing a song, walked to the edge of the stage with a microphone and asked the audience below:
"What song would you like to hear? You can tell me!"
Rural people generally felt shy, and when she asked the first time, no one was brave enough to speak up.
Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand first.
Jin Secretary recognized him and smiled, waving him over, signaling him to come closer to the stage: "Come here, little friend, tell me, what song do you want to hear?"
She squatted down, bringing the microphone to Li Zhuiyuan’s mouth.
Facing the stage and the surface of the fish pond, he said in a clear voice:
"Um... I want to hear, 'Thousand Thousand Songs.'"
(End of this chapter)