There was no more talking that night. The next morning, Liu Pangzi and Lin Sanshui came to my house again. My mother had been reduced to ashes. Even if she wasn't cremated, my second uncle didn't need to close the doors to visitors, because apart from Liu Pangzi and Lin Sanshui, nobody else really cared about my mother. Twenty-three years ago, she might have been a highlight, but over the years, many people had even ignored her existence.
Liu Pangzi and Lin Sanshui had two things to discuss. First, Liu Pangzi was going to leave. The matters here needed to be wrapped up one way or another. Second, they wanted to treat Lin Xiaoyao's face.
I was surprised when Pangzi said he was leaving, as the matters here were anything but resolved. The most important thing was that the policewoman had stayed here for so long because she was waiting for him to save her brother.
But Pangzi's intentions were simple - whether the matters here were resolved or not, they had nothing to do with him. He also had no way to handle them. Regarding Lin Xiaoyao's face, it was something he had promised to Lin Sanshui from the beginning. He intended to see it through, and there was no changing his mind - the policewoman was so angry she almost stomped her foot. In the end, she said, "Are you the only one who can treat Xiaoyao's face? I don't mind superstition, but using rustic methods for everything is unacceptable. I believe in the wisdom passed down by our ancestors, but one must separate the wheat from the chaff. If Xiaoyao's face has to be saved, it's on me."
As soon as Lin Sanshui heard this, he looked torn between Pangzi and the policewoman. Before meeting Pangzi, he had considered taking Lin Xiaoyao to a plastic surgery hospital. But that would involve a significant expense, and when he met Pangzi, it was like receiving a blessing.
Before, there was no way. Now there was. Suddenly, there were two options. Nine Liang suggested taking Lin Xiaoyao for plastic surgery. Would that work? Absolutely. Pangzi said he would treat Lin Xiaoyao's face. Would that work? If Pangzi said so, then it would.
How was Lin Sanshui supposed to choose?
While Lin Sanshui was struggling, Pangzi said to Nine Liang, "Don't talk so big. I haven't figured out what's really going on with Xiaoyao's face. Are you brave enough to have someone perform surgery? Ever heard of a ghost mole? Remove it and it might cost her life!"
Hearing what Pangzi said, Nine Liang's face turned pale, and she couldn't say anything more. These strange things were something Pangzi understood better than us; he had the authority to speak on them.
In the end, Pangzi ignored Nine Liang. Regardless of the reasons, he wasn't going to help her save her brother. Whether it was because he didn't like Nine Liang or because he knew he couldn't handle her brother's problem, either way, he refused.
"Xiaofan, go to the town and check on your grandmother. If she's better, let Xiaoyao come back. I've been busy all along and now I finally have some time. Some things need to be taken care of. She's a good girl, but what's with that black mole?," Pangzi said, before leaving with great swagger.
Having been left behind, Nine Liang was fuming. I wanted to reassure her, but I couldn't. Lin Sanshui was still here, and I couldn't just say, "Village chief, your only university student is about to study the art of yin and yang, right?" I thought that when Lin Sanshui left, I would talk to Nine Liang and figure out a solution. If all else failed, I would study and learn it myself, and then personally intervene.
But before Lin Sanshui left, he took me aside to talk. Frowning, he said, "Xiaofan, I've been busy with the matter of the red coffin. Now that it's over, there are some things that can't be delayed. As you know, the girl in the town is pregnant, and it's starting to show. I don't want to do this, but I have no choice."
I felt a sharp pain in my heart as soon as I heard it. So Lin Sanshui is really sure about getting a divorce this time?
"I've told you, that divorce agreement, you should personally give it to her, let me take it to Shenger. I can't do it," I said.
"Xiaofan, help uncle this time, just this time. You don't know, whenever I see your mother-in-law, I feel like I'm not human. I originally thought I would wait for Xiaoyao's face to recover before talking about this, but that girl has been dead for a month, and is already starting to show. Her family is pressuring me to go hang myself," Lin Sanshui's expression was extremely conflicted, and even his tone had a pleading quality when he spoke to me.
"Uncle, how about this, let's wait, wait until Shenger comes back from the town?" I said to Lin Sanshui. As soon as I heard him mention divorce, I thought of Wu Miaoke and felt uncomfortable all over my body. Wasn't it all because of a child? I went to bed with Wu Miaoke a few times, and she got pregnant. If it's just about a child, then I want to keep this marriage from falling apart.
"No, it has to be tomorrow. I'm getting old, and for a young girl like her to agree to be with me, it's because she had a big falling out with her family. Her family said, if I don't get the divorce agreement tomorrow, the whole thing will be over," Lin Sanshui was almost about to kneel down before me.
In the end, I was truly at my wit's end because of Lin Sanshui. I took the divorce agreement, feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds. But in my heart, I was thinking, how will I deliver this to Wu Miaoke, and what expression will she have when she receives this paper?
I folded the paper neatly, put it in my pocket, and drove with Jiu Liang to the hospital. The family matters were actually already settled, and I also needed to visit my grandmother. As we drove past the threshing ground, I saw that all of the ninety-nine mud sculptures, without exception, had turned into pieces.
The coffins on the threshing ground had already been buried by Second Uncle, but only he knew where exactly this time. I couldn't help but wonder if someday in the future, someone just like Grandfather would coincidentally bury a coffin on top of that coffin. Was everything destined to repeat itself?
When the car reached the town hospital, my grandmother was already awake. Shedding the facade of strength, she cried and cried upon seeing me, unable to even speak. Once I finally managed to comfort her, which was quite easy, I told her, "Don't cry, I'm still waiting for you to help me carry your great-grandson. Crying too much is bad for your health."
The old lady was actually very easy to placate, and her attention could easily be diverted. As soon as I said this, she stopped crying and took Lin Xiaoyao's hand, placing it in mine, wiped away her tears, and said with a smile, "Alright, get married, you two should get married quickly. Wait until I'm out of the hospital to have the wedding."
After comforting my grandmother, I called Lin Xiaoyao out and informed her about her face. Liu Pangzi said he would pay for her treatment, and I let her make a choice. Initially, Xiaoyao disliked Liu Pangzi, but as soon as she heard that it was Jiu Liang offering to pay for her plastic surgery, she immediately made a decision.
"Why should I let him pay for my face treatment?" Lin Xiaoyao was filled with jealousy. When she said this, she purposely flaunted the bracelet in her hand to remind me that she was the chosen daughter-in-law in our family. I had forgotten about this quarrel, Lin Xiaoyao had an inexplicable hostility towards female police officers.
But when I saw that bracelet, I touched the glass ball in my pocket. After my father said, "Since your grandfather is no longer here, who will save your mother," I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable, because since my grandfather was gone, I was still there. I wanted to become a Yin-Yang Master. Sooner or later, I would revive this poor woman.
After settling things with Lin Xiaoyao, we decided to go home in the evening and see Liu Pangzi the next day to take a look at her face before making a decision. After discussing this matter, I was left with one final task in town.
Handing the divorce agreement from Lin Sanshui to Wu Miaoke.
I called her to the hospital's backyard. After that night, this woman became even more calm and distant in front of others and even in front of me. But whenever we were alone, she still blushed and couldn't meet my gaze. That evening might have been the boldest moment in her life.
Before coming, I had thought of numerous gentle and tactful words to tell her the truth, but they all collapsed when I saw her like that.
"Aunt, Uncle Sanshui is sure about getting a divorce. The girl in town is pregnant, already four months along," I said directly. Some things must be said sooner or later because it's better to suffer now than later.
I had wanted to say, "Don't worry, even if you're divorced, I'm still here."
But I couldn't do it, it went against etiquette, morals, and ethics for me to say that heart-felt statement.
Her blush disappeared instantly, replaced by a pallor. Just then, I handed her the divorce agreement and said, "Uncle Sanshui said he wants you to sign it soon."
She trembled for a moment, didn't even look at the agreement, directly folded the trembling paper and put it in her pocket. She squeezed out a smile uglier than crying and said to me, "Xiaofan, is there anything else?"
"Nothing, Aunt, you'll be just fine," I'm not good at consoling people, but I managed to say it with a stiff face.
"Thank you, Aunt will be fine," she smiled and turned around to leave.
A truly strong woman, she could hold back her tears. I thought to myself.
At the next moment, I saw her crouching on the ground, crying uncontrollably, trembling all over.
My heart ached at that moment, I went over, wrapped my arms around her shoulders, and said to her, "Aunt, you still have me."
However, I, Lin Xiaofan, had to take responsibility for her after that romantic night we had. I didn't care how others saw me, why else did I go see her that night?
She pushed me away, with a great force, and cried as she slapped her own face, saying, "I'm useless, I can't have children, I'm shameful, I'm useless."
People passing by were staring, but I didn't feel embarrassed.
I only regretted my own hesitation. If I had treated her kindly when she was in the hospital, I would have been burdened with moral constraints, but at least this woman wouldn't be on the brink of collapse right now.
Wu Miaoke is much stronger than I imagined. However, when I returned, I couldn't find Lin Sanshui in Linjiazhuang. He may have gone into hiding or deliberately avoided Wu Miaoke, and only he knows what he's thinking. To divert Wu Miaoke's attention, when I returned, I immediately said to her, "Auntie, let's not think about anything else for now. Liu Pangzi said he wants to treat Xiaoyao's face."
It was a kind of disguised comfort. I wanted to tell her that without Lin Sanshui, there would still be Lin Xiaoyao. Most importantly, I wanted something to occupy her mind, so this apparently strong person wouldn't make any irrational moves.
She nodded. After the indulgence of the three of us that night, she seemed to intentionally distance herself from me, possibly out of shyness. Now, she is neither warm nor cold to me. To put it a bit more bluntly, at this point, I am of no further use to her. She said, "Did Mr. Liu say how much money he wants? I'll get it ready."
I shook my head and said, "He really didn't say that, but I reckon the amount of money we have in our rural area won't satisfy Pangzi. You don't need to go and arrange anything. I'll go and bring Liu Pangzi here first."
I left the house and went to Lin Sanshui's home. Lin Sanshui was nowhere to be found, and since Pangzi was asleep by himself, and since we couldn't reward anyone who could help us, I didn't want to disturb them. I just squatted at the door, waiting for Pangzi to wake up naturally. In case this guy gets really angry when he wakes up, and his temper is weird, it wouldn't be good to cause any accidents. When Liu Pangzi woke up, he immediately called me into the house and said, "If you had woken me up just now, I wouldn't have said certain things, but, little guy, you are very polite, so I have no choice but to tell you the truth. What exactly is on Lin Xiaoyao's face, I have no idea."
I was instantly dumbfounded. You asked to treat Lin Xiaoyao's face, and now you're telling me that you don't even know what's going on with her face? Seeing my expression, Pangzi waved his hand and said, "Little guy, don't jump to conclusions. I can't cure it, but I can tell you something unpleasant. Lin Xiaoyao's face, I can't treat it, doctors can't fix it. This thing is not just an ordinary birthmark. It may be related to Lin Xiaoyao's destiny."
"Do you know what this is then?" I couldn't speak loudly, so I had to ask quietly.
"At first, I thought it was a Yinque ghost mark, but it doesn't seem like it. Let me tell you, the person with a Yinque ghost mark must have been a great villain in a past life, but as for Lin Xiaoyao, I still don't know her fate. From the standpoint of physiognomy and fortune-telling, it's almost as if she did ten lifetimes of good deeds for just one fortune. There's no reason for this to be a ghost mark. Then I thought, is it a demon possessing her? This is even more mysterious. Just like Wu Miaoke, she was once assaulted by a similar demon. How was it done? To be blunt, she was raped by a demon. This little girl is the descendant of the demon, but I rejected that too. Lin Xiaoyao can't be a demon," Pangzi said, frowning.
"After all that, what's going on with this?" I urged.
"Don't push me. I'm just using a process of elimination, right? Now, we can be certain of one thing: Lin Xiaoyao is definitely a living person. Based on her physiognomy, she should have enjoyed great fortune after doing good deeds for ten lifetimes. That's why I told you, if you marry Lin Xiaoyao, it would be great for you. This is the most confusing part for me. According to physiognomy, Lin Xiaoyao should have been an extraordinarily beautiful woman! But why does she have a birthmark on her face? If I were to say, something's fishy in your village!" Pangzi seemed very conflicted.
Although I knew that Pangzi's current plan was targeted, I was still anxious. People are afraid of having their hopes dashed, and now that I think about it, I shouldn't have made such a perfect statement to Lin Xiaoyao. Now that Pangzi is messing up, isn't Lin Xiaoyao going to be miserable?
"So, what do we do now?" I was almost in tears.
"Let's go. This is really hard to say. Let's first examine Lin Xiaoyao's fate using astrology, and then we'll figure out a way. If we can't cure Lin Xiaoyao, I'll lose twenty pounds. Are you reassured now?" Pangzi said.
As I watched Pangzi get up, I suddenly remembered something and asked him, "Pangzi, I'd like to ask you, what is a Yin Yang master?"
Pangzi was stunned for a moment, then glanced at me and said, "Yin Yang master, huh? That's what the little Japanese say, but the little Japanese steal everything from us, so we can overlook that. Actually, those who look like me, they call us Yin Yang masters and such, which is not correct. I, Fat Master, have the true and authentic Taoist lineage. You can see that the method I used earlier is feng shui, and emphasizing formations is the main focus. This is what Taoists excel at, arranging formations. In ancient times, our main goal was to cultivate oneself. I won't elaborate on the complexities. However, a Taoist is definitely not the kind of ghost-catcher who carries a peach wood sword. A person who catches ghosts, like Xu Lin, is called a sorcerer. For example, in the Maoshan lineage, many branches specialize in capturing and subduing demons, so they should be called Maoshan sorcerers. There is also another type of person who focuses on esoteric divination and feng shui geography, studying the terrain's features, and these people are called geomancers. However, people nowadays seem to dabble in everything. Ultimately, Taoism, different paths lead to the same goal. For example, I am a versatile genius."
"I asked you about a Yin Yang master!" Although I was also curious about the many types Pangzi mentioned, I was most curious about the identity I was about to acquire, a Yin Yang master.
Pangzi smacked his lips, shook his head, and said, "How should I answer this? The name Yin Yang master is overused now. You can call Taoists, geomancers, sorcerers, and geomancers all Yin Yang masters. But the orthodox Yin Yang master lineage, in our circle, is like a legend."