Fatty and I's peculiar behavior today did not escape everyone's eyes. After Fatty returned home, while we were having dinner, my father asked me, "Didn't Fatty say he was going to treat this girl's face? How come after an afternoon's work, there were only you two running around?"
I hemmed and hawed, and in the end, seeing everyone looking at me, there was nothing worth concealing, especially since I needed to explain it to Wu Miaoke, who still had reddened eyes from the afternoon and a rather abrupt question I had asked her.
I told them about what Fatty had said to me and his doubts about Xiaoyao's face. After I finished, everyone's expressions when they looked at me and Lin Xiaoyao were a bit strange. Apart from Jiuliang's skeptical look, everyone else was over the moon.
"I knew it. Such a good girl like Little Yao, how could the Heavens allow a mole to grow on her face? Now, my Little Yao is destined to be the queen. Xiaofan, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and marry Little Yao," grandmother said with a smile.
Lin Little Yao's face blushed all the way to her ears and she coquettishly said while hugging her grandmother's arm, "Grandma, you're teasing me again."
The family instantly became harmonious and joyous. At that moment, I suddenly felt that whether the mole on Lin Little Yao's face could be removed no longer mattered.
When we were almost done with dinner, my father suddenly said to me, "Don't go grave-digging tonight. After all, they are your San Shui uncle's parents. Tomorrow, go find your San Shui uncle, wait for him to come back and pick a good day to open the grave. What's the point of sneaking around in the middle of the night as if we're robbing tombs?"
I thought about it, but then I suddenly realized, where should I go to find Lin Sanshui? He must be at the house of that girl in the town at the moment. The problem is, where is that girl in the town now? I have no idea!
I glanced at Wu Miaoke, who was already crouched down clearing the bowls and chopsticks. When she noticed me looking at her, she gave me a smile and said, "They live right next to the hospital, in the third house behind it."
With that, she took the bowls and chopsticks to the sink to wash them.
This woman, she really is so strong? I couldn't help but think.
I also got up and went out, since I wasn't going to go tonight, I had to at least explain to Fatty. When I got to Lin Sanshui's house, and saw Fatty, who always nagged Lin Sanshui to cook old mother hen for him, eating instant noodles alone after Lin Sanshui had left, I approached him. When he saw me, Fatty slurped a mouthful of noodles and said, "Kid, you're too early, come back later, want a bowl?"
Seeing Fatty looking pitiful, I said, "Fatty, Sanshui isn't home, you might as well come to my place for dinner, it's just a matter of an extra bowl and chopsticks."
"Do you think I can't cook? Don't lie to me, I'm a better cook than Lin Sanshui. Today, I'm just in the mood for a change. Come on, besides that, I've been thinking since I got back today, are we worrying too much about Lin Little Yao's family's ancestral grave and neglecting the most important point: who touched Lin Little Yao's ancestor's coffin?" Fatty asked me.
"What do you mean?" I was a bit confused by his question.
"Think about when I told you about the Feng Shui master today, that black dog in the southeast corner of the house, it's a setup by the Feng Shui master to deliberately prevent people from finding it. You should also be able to figure out that the black mole on Lin Little Yao's face, to put it bluntly, is a Feng Shui setup. But who set up this setup? Don't tell me there is a hidden master in the Lin family? Don't tell me it's your second uncle. I heard from Lin Sanshui that he just came back recently." Fatty stopped eating noodles and said to me.
I only half understood what Fatty was saying, but when he mentioned a hidden master in the Lin family, I suddenly thought of one person, my grandfather.
If there really was a hidden master in the Lin family, it had to be him for sure.
I didn't tell Fatty this, because once it was said, it would expose the secret of my grandfather, which was bound to expose the fact that my mother was paper person, and at the same time, it would reveal my potential as a Yin Yang master. I had a good impression of Fatty, but not to the point of sharing everything with him.
"Who knows, when I find Sanshui tomorrow, we'll open the coffin and have a look. Let's not open it tonight, it's not polite," I said to Fatty.
After I said that, Fatty slapped his thigh and said, "I'm so excited about the matter today! I forgot about this. I couldn't figure it out before. Wu Miaoke has a thin waist, a big butt, and a well-developed chest. Lin Sanshui also has no problem in the reproductive area. How could they not have children? Now I finally understand, it's because Lin Little Yao's luck is too strong, it's suppressing the two of them!"
Fatty's sudden words left me stunned on the spot.
Wasn't what Fatty said a bit too late?
"What's the solution?" I still asked.
"It's very simple. If that Little Yao was given away to someone else as a child, and then given back, her luck would change. Now that she's all grown up, you two get married and everything will be fine," Fatty waved his hand.
"Is it that simple?" I couldn't believe it.
"Do you want it to be more complicated?" Fatty asked in surprise.
I was instantly baffled. A simple matter like this had caused Lin Sanshui to look for a mistress and ask me to father a child, and the two were even on the verge of divorce now?
I agreed with Fatty to find Lin Sanshui the next day and discuss the matter of opening the coffin in the coming days. After leaving, I didn't go home, but went to the peach orchard behind the mountain. I was going to find someone here, Seventh Grandfather.
In rural areas, when someone passes away, close relatives and neighbors help out. Young people carry the coffin, but there are many old customs, such as when to set off firecrackers, when to burn paper money, which have a lot of attention to detail.
Following Fatty's words, the grave sites of Lin Little Yao's ancestors within three generations should have been in a good feng shui position.
Now, whether or not it was a good feng shui position didn't matter, but there was definitely something wrong in a coffin within three generations, and Fatty said there was a bat in some person's coffin.
I speculated that it was my grandfather's doing. The person most closely related to my grandfather within three generations should be Lin Little Yao's grandfather, who was the second eldest among his siblings. I remembered that old man, he had a long beard and was very kind. I only had vague memories of him as he passed away early, even before Lin Little Yao was born.
By the time I reached the peach orchard, Seventh Grandfather hadn't gone to bed yet. I pretended to chat with him, eventually bringing up the topic of Lin Little Yao's grandfather. Finally, it was confirmed that at the time of Lin Little Yao's grandfather's death, Third Grandfather was as usual the master of ceremonies at the funeral, and my grandfather was the coffin nailer.
"When your Second Grandfather died, it was hot weather, and the body had to lay in state at home for three days, but it quickly swelled up from decomposition, and when touched, bodily fluids would come out. The stench was unbearable, and during the embalming process, no one dared to touch the body. In the end, it was your grandfather who did it. Among us brothers, there were only two who were the closest, your grandfather was someone who smiled at everyone and was a good person, but he was not entirely satisfied with us brothers. He suffered a lot during the revolutionary period, and it was only your Second Grandfather who helped him out, so his whole life, he was very close to Second Grandfather," Seventh Grandfather recalled his brothers with a smile on his face.
"When the body was laid out, who was there?" I asked.
"It was a foul odor and your grandfather was smiling at us, saying 'my clothes can get dirty, but nobody else's. You all stay away, after all, Second Grandfather and I are the closest.' So, from the embalming to the nailing of the coffin, it was all done by your grandfather. After your Second Grandfather was buried that night, a few of us went behind your house to listen at the wall, your grandmother scolded your grandfather so much!" Seventh Grandfather laughed so much, this much I knew, my grandfather, such an honest man, people often asked when he last avoided getting hit by his wife.
After chatting casually with Seventh Grandfather, I let him go to bed early, and I went back first. Bidding farewell to Seventh Grandfather, I didn't know what my current mood was. From embalming to nailing the coffin, it was all done by my grandfather alone. Originally, his suspicion was just the highest in my mind, but now it was almost confirmed.
If there really was something wrong in Lin Little Yao's grandfather's coffin.
Then it was one hundred percent my grandfather's doing.
In other words, my grandfather, a clandestine Feng Shui master, was the one who created Lin Little Yao's indescribably noble destiny. I suddenly thought of a scene from my childhood.
At the beginning, when I saw Lin Little Yao's face, I felt scared.
Grandfather would always take out two dimes and say to me, "Xiaofan, if you take Little Yao to buy a popsicle, I'll give you two dimes. If not, you won't get even a single dime."
After doing that a number of times, I became familiar with Lin Little Yao. I got used to it, and her face didn't seem so scary anymore.
And exactly at that time, Lin Little Yao also developed a deep affection for me, who dared to play with her.
Strictly speaking, Grandfather was the one who arranged the marriage between me and Lin Little Yao.
I suddenly understood Grandfather's plan.
He personally created a wife for me who could be unmatched in the world.
Lin Little Yao's bracelet was given to her by her mother.
Our marriage was guided by Grandfather.
Even before Lin Little Yao was born, Grandfather had already decreed that she would be my wife.