She led me to sit by the bedside, then turned and walked to the cabinet. As she opened the cabinet, I dared to lift my head and admire her graceful figure.
It's really hard to imagine that in such a mountain village, there could be such a beautiful woman. However, beauty is not the most important thing. What impressed me most about Wu Miaoke was her tenderness and obedience.
It seemed I had never seen her gossiping about others with other women. She quietly managed this household. Even when there were rumors outside about Lin Sanshui finding another woman, I had never heard her quarrel about it.
She rummaged through the cabinet, and the only sound left in the bedroom was the pounding of our two hearts.
My palms were already sweaty. To be honest, I still didn't know what I would do if she made the first move.
After a while, she turned towards me. I even suspected that she had unbuttoned her blouse behind my back. It wasn't until she stood in front of me that I raised my head and saw her neatly dressed, holding several pieces of paper. Her whole face was red, and she dared not look at me.
I took the paper from her. It turned out to be a hospital examination report.
"Xiaofan, take a look for yourself." She saw me take the paper and moved to the window.
The paper was Wu Miaoke's physical examination report. The result was that there was nothing wrong with Wu Miaoke's body! This was completely opposite to what Lin Sanshui had just said.
"I've already been to the hospital for an examination. If it was really my problem, I would have left long ago. How could I be the reason for the Lin family's downfall?" she sobbed, with her back to me.
"The girl in town that Uncle Sanshui mentioned?" I was instantly confused. If Wu Miaoke's body had no problem, then the issue lay with Lin Sanshui. But if that was the case, how could the girl in town be explained?
"That girl is not a good person. That child is not yours, Uncle's," Wu Miaoke couldn't help but cry.
So that was it! I took the paper and stood up, intending to tell Lin Sanshui the truth. I couldn't let this woman suffer such injustice.
"Xiaofan, don't. Your uncle has his pride," Wu Miaoke walked over and grabbed my hand.
"But aunty, how can you let others see you like this?" I felt indignant for her.
I looked at her, and her trembling hand holding onto my arm, along with the intense atmosphere, led to an ambiguous feeling. Her trembling became a chain reaction, even causing me to tremble.
"Your uncle just wants a child, we were here a few days ago." Wu Miaoke almost inaudibly spoke to me with a trembling voice.
I'm not a fool. Even if I couldn't understand what she meant, the current environment, her expression, and her trembling body were enough to tell me what she wanted to do.
Smelling her scent, I felt my head spinning, and I was overwhelmed by the image of her snowy white figure when I was eleven.
It felt like all the blood in my body rushed to my brain. I couldn't help it, and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her down onto the bed.
I was panting heavily, and I even ignored the fact that this woman's husband was outside sound asleep, and the fact that, based on our family relationship, I should call her aunty. I only had one thought: to possess her and at the same time rescue her.
I clumsily took off my shirt and threw myself at her.
She turned her head away, her face flushed red.
Just as I was about to continue, she suddenly pushed me away and sat up, covering her face and crying uncontrollably.
Seeing her shaking and crying, my inner fire gradually cooled. I knew that if I persisted at this moment, I would definitely get this woman that every man in the village coveted, but I couldn't.
I silently put on my clothes.
I didn't even apologize or call her aunty. I simply opened the door.
"I'm sorry Xiaofan, I'm sorry, Aunty can't do it," she cried.
I opened the door and was almost startled. I saw Lin Xiaoyao standing at the door, her face flushed, and when she saw me, she turned and ran.
"Xiaoyao!" I called out and quickly chased after her.
If just a moment ago, every cell in my body was filled with the thrill of the affair, now I was filled with fear, the fear of being caught in the act.
If what happened between Wu Miaoke and me in the room spread, both of us would have no place to hide. Even if we did nothing, I fully believed in the villagers' ability to gossip, and I didn't know how many versions of the story would be spread, creating a huge commotion.
It wasn't just about me; my family would also be disgraced.
So I immediately followed her out. I chased her all the way to the back of the village, and Lin Xiaoyao suddenly stopped and said to me, "Xiaofan, go back. I won't tell anyone about today or last night."
"Xiaoyao, things aren't what you think," I said.
"I overheard everything," Lin Xiaoyao said, her eyes turning red again.
"We didn't do anything. Trust me," I said to her.
"Do you like my mom?" Women are truly miraculous creatures; she suddenly changed the subject.
"Don't talk nonsense. They are our elders," I said.
"You're lying! Her eyes have already betrayed you!" Lin Xiaoyao said.
I was speechless at her words. Since she said that, I knew she had been observing me for a long time. A woman's intuition is so accurate that I didn't need to argue.
Lin Xiaoyao then sat down on the ground and pointed to the side, "Sit down here."
This wasn't good at all. The two of us sat there like that. If anyone else saw, it would be impossible to clear our names. Besides, I had just been involved with Wu Miaoke, and now I was sitting here with Lin Xiaoyao. What was this all about?
"Do you want to sit? If you don't, I'll go tell people what you and my mom did today," she pouted.
"Alright, Xiaofan will listen to you." I shook my head. What a mess.
We sat on the mountainside. As soon as I sat down, she hugged my arm and rested her head on my shoulder, making me feel uncomfortable all over.
"Xiaofan, my mom is actually quite pitiful, isn't she?" she asked me.
"Everyone has their own life, right?" I didn't know what she was really up to. It was the only way I could respond.
"Actually, you didn't do anything with her today, I know," she said, pinching my arm hard.
"Can we not talk about this? You just said your mom is pitiful," I said, gritting my teeth.
"I don't know what to do. I feel sorry for my dad too. It's all my fault, looking like this," she said.
"For a person, appearance is not the most important thing. As long as they are kind, as long as there is genuine love, everything else is not a problem," I advised her.
"Would you like me, Xiaofan?" she asked me, before I could answer, she said, "Forget it, forget I said anything. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
Even though she said that, I still didn't know how to respond. I even regretted my superficial judgement of others. But, I didn't even know how to describe my own mindset, If Lin Xiaoyao's face changed like this after being with me, I definitely wouldn't reject her.
But before, I couldn't accept it, perhaps what I could not face was other people's criticisms.
"Xiaofan, if you could give birth to a younger brother with mom, that would be great. My mom definitely knows you like her. You probably don't even realize it, every time you see her, you're practically drooling," she said, pinching me again.
I opened my mouth but still didn't know what to say.
"Xiaofan?"
"Yeah?"
"It's nothing, I just wanted to call you,"
The two of us sat like this, all the way until my butt hurt. Lin Xiaoyao stood up, kissed me on the face, and then ran off, saying, "Xiaofan, I will definitely heal my face. I must match up with you!"
After she left, I felt a little bit lost. Originally in a hurry to go back to the ancestral hall, at this moment, I had a sense of dejection. Maybe everyone has this mindset, liking to be admired by the opposite sex. Thinking about the events of today, it felt like I was in a dream, so unreal.
In the end, I was so hungry, so I went home to eat something, and then rushed back to the ancestral hall again, this day passed quietly, until early the next morning, Lin Sanshui came to my house. Behind him was a person in a Taoist robe, carrying a peach wood sword, looking very imposing.
"Who is the head of the household?" the Taoist-looking person came over and asked me directly.
"My dad is not at home, he's at the ancestral hall. If you have something to discuss, you can talk to me," I said.
"I've already heard about the situation at your house from the village chief, but I still need to go and see the specific situation at the gravesite," the Taoist said.
I nodded and said, "Okay."
At that moment, my grandmother walked out. I said to her, "Go and call the villagers, there might be places where we need help."
That's what I said, but in reality, there was a simple reason for calling the villagers, because in inviting the Yin and Yang master, half of it was for them. Our family needed to account for the death of Grandpa San and the repeated "corpse changes" of my grandpa to the villagers.
Later in the conversation, I found out that this Yin and Yang master was an old acquaintance of the village chief Lin Sanshui. His name was Xu Lin, a well-known Feng Shui master in the vicinity.
When I heard that, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Even though inviting a Yin and Yang master wasn't a big deal, the real issue was, how much would it cost? From his appearance and aura, it was clear that he was no ordinary person. Eighteen hundred yuan would be okay, but if he opened his mouth and asked for eight thousand, wouldn't that make my dad heartbroken?
But it was clear that I couldn't ask such a question in front of this Yin and Yang master. Generally, people like him might need money for their work, but they considered themselves to be above mundane matters, and would get angry if you talked to them about money. So I quietly pulled Lin Sanshui aside and asked, "Uncle Sanshui, have you discussed the price with him?"
"Don't worry about that. A thousand yuan. If you don't have it, I'll lend it to you. Mr. Xu is here completely out of courtesy and to gather some good karma. I'm not exaggerating, I've seen someone bring a whole box of money to him for feng shui consultation, but he didn't go," Lin Sanshui said confidently.
A thousand yuan, although still unreasonable for this mountain village, could make everyone feel at ease, which really wasn't too much.
I also felt relieved. At that moment, a dozen or so villagers joined us. When they saw the Yin and Yang master, they were quite nervous, following behind others quietly.
In no time, we reached the ancestral burial ground. The Yin and Yang master Xu Lin looked around and then said, "According to the Feng Shui principles, your Lin family's ancestral graves are facing the Chi River and backed by the small Cangshan Mountain. This is a very good Feng Shui pattern. Even though it may not bring abundant talents to your village, at least there shouldn't be any major disasters. How can such a Feng Shui arrangement lead to corpses rising?"
Lin Sanshui walked over and paid his respects, "Please guide us, Mr. Xu."
The Yin and Yang master furrowed his brow and pointed to my grandfather's grave, saying to me, "Young man, do you mind opening it up? Some departed spirits cannot rest in peace, sometimes it's due to issues with the grave."
I opened my mouth but didn't know how to respond. It was okay for my grandpa to come out, but me, as his grandson, bringing people to dig up his grave, it just didn't feel right.
"Go ahead, Xiaofan. It's already this time, and since your dad isn't here, I'll make the decision for you," Lin Sanshui said to me.
What else could I do but nod? Anyway, grandpa—he would come out even if you didn't dig his grave.
The Yin and Yang master began to calculate using a sandglass from his backpack, waiting for the noon to come. Several strong young men were ready at any moment, ready to start digging at the Yin and Yang master's word. I had to admit, it was an extremely awe-inspiring profession.