The early morning rain brought a hint of coolness to the sweltering heat of the dog days, a relief from the previous day. After Huang San finished recounting the events, I shared the matter with Zhang Dabiao, asking him for a way to deal with the people from the Hu family.
“What good way could there be? Just wait. While the Hu family is indeed powerful and difficult to shake, that’s only referring to their direct lineage, not those scattered, good-for-nothing collateral branches. Huang San definitely didn’t offend the direct line, otherwise, by the time you got back, he’d be long gone, and you wouldn’t be here worrying yourself sick,” Zhang Dabiao said.
His words eased the tension in my heart. It was true; I had been away in Xiaoliu Village for a week. Huang San had come to my house the day after I left. If the Hu family had truly sought revenge, my entire house would have likely been torn down by the time I returned.
Even though I knew the Hu family’s direct lineage wouldn’t show up, it didn’t mean the family member whose “taokou feng” (讨口封 – a ritualistic blessing or curse) was broken wouldn’t come knocking. However, based on Zhang Dabiao’s understanding of them, they would likely show up at night.
I took a nap in the afternoon, then disposed of all the sheep bones in the yard and settled the bill with the shepherd.
The shepherd’s face was pale, and his voice trembled. He kept saying it wasn’t necessary, that it was an honor for the sheep to be eaten by the Yellow Immortal, and that accepting money would be an insult.
This made me curse Huang San again in my heart, but I still paid the shepherd. Raising sheep wasn’t easy; one had to manage their food and drink, and ensure they weren’t taken by wolves. After throwing the money down, I told him that as long as my family ate sheep, he should deliver them, and the money would be there.
The shepherd, who had initially looked fearful, suddenly regained some color in his face as he saw the two bundles of red banknotes I’d placed on the table. He muttered that as long as they ate, he just needed to be told, and he would deliver the sheep after they were properly prepared. He considered it a blessing for the Yellow Immortal to eat their sheep.
I felt a surge of disdain. Was it really that serious? Just a small long snake and a den of weasels had scared him into such a state? It was truly embarrassing.
But then again, I supposed it made sense. Farmers who had spent their lives in mountain valleys, toiling the earth, wouldn’t have encountered talking snakes and yellow weasels. It was only because my master was in the village that people had seen quite a few great immortals. If it were any other village, the shepherd would have been scared stiff by now.
“Why aren’t you eating? Is the porridge Sister-in-law made not good?” Zhang Sao asked, putting down her chopsticks and looking at me with concern.
“Who said it wasn’t good? I’ll break their legs. I was just thinking about some things,” I said, looking at the somewhat reserved Zhang Sao. “My home is your home, don’t be so reserved. In a while, when I find a good house, you can move into a new home. Look at Zhang Ge, eating meat heartily and drinking wine heartily, so happy.”
Zhang Sao glanced at Zhang Dabiao, her eyes full of happiness, but her words said otherwise. She complained that she didn’t know how she’d been so blind to fall for him, calling it a curse. With that, she took her bowl and chopsticks into the kitchen.
Zhang Dabiao put down his wine glass, looking at me with a strange expression. “Kid, put away those petty thoughts of yours. You’re just afraid that the Hu family coming will implicate us, aren’t you? Even if the Hu family’s old patriarch came, we’d still be in the right. What’s there to be afraid of? At worst, we’ll fight to the death, and then deal with the consequences.”
His words made me realize I had been worrying too much. Even if the Hu family was powerful, they wouldn’t be completely unreasonable, would they? The Hu family’s old patriarch could intimidate one region, but he couldn’t suppress the entire world. There were countless talented individuals in this vast land of China, and I refused to believe there was no one who could deal with them.
With my mind cleared, I picked up the wine on the table, poured myself a glass, and downed it in one gulp. Then I went back to my room to sleep. I had spent half the night thinking about what I might face, but now it seemed excessive. I’d deal with whatever came my way, and if all else failed, I could always spend money to find someone to resolve it.
I slept soundly, without even a dream. On a hot day, rain falling and sleeping was truly one of life’s greatest pleasures.
When I woke up, the rain outside hadn’t stopped; in fact, it had intensified. I checked my phone and saw it was past three in the afternoon. I hadn’t realized I had slept so deeply, over eight hours during the day.
After taking care of my personal needs, I felt hungry. I went to the kitchen; the food was still warm in the pot. After eating, I felt invigorated, my soul returning to my body.
I couldn’t sleep anymore, or I’d become too sluggish. The Hu family was no longer a concern for now; I just had to wait for them to show up. What I should be thinking about now was how to make money, and the best way was to go to the city.
Just as I was contemplating where to go, my phone rang. I looked at it, and it didn’t display a number, only “Unknown Caller.” Recently, there had been many phone scams where the displayed number was like this. I assumed the caller was one of them and hung up without a second thought.
As soon as I hung up, the phone rang again, still displaying an unknown number. I answered and immediately told the person on the other end that I wasn’t buying stocks, bonds, or anything else, and to stop calling. With that, I prepared to hang up.
“Oh, who upset you to make you so hot-tempered?” a teasing voice came from the other end. It sounded somewhat familiar, and I froze for a moment.
“Who are you? Did you dial the wrong number?”
“What the heck, you brat! It’s only been a month, and you’ve already forgotten your brother? You’re too heartless! If I’d known you were like this, I wouldn’t have taken you to make money. You went south once, saw the world, and now you’re turning your back on me…”
The person on the other end rambled on for a long time before I finally recognized who it was.
“Sun Chuang?”
“At least you’re a good kid and still remember your brother.”
As soon as I heard it was him, I prepared to hang up. My master had asked him to take me to Molu Village to act as an intermediary for a job. But this guy had completely broken the rules of Yin divination and then tried to harm me. If Zhang Dabiao hadn’t gone with me, I would have been sold by him and still had to help him count the money.
Thinking about everything that happened in Molu Village made me furious. I directly asked if he had anything else to say, and if not, I was hanging up and he shouldn’t call again. With that, I prepared to end the call. It was better to stay away from someone who valued money over people and put on a different face in front of others, or I wouldn’t even know how I died.
“Don’t hang up! I have a money-making business here, are you interested?”
I sneered and said I wasn’t interested, fearing I’d have the life to earn it but not to spend it. As soon as I finished speaking, I hung up and blocked the number.
Shortly after hanging up, the phone rang again, displaying a local number.
As soon as the call connected, Sun Chuang’s voice came through again, “Little brother, why hang up before we finished talking? You’ll regret not taking this deal. The client is offering five million. If I didn’t know you were in urgent need of money, I would have found someone else. You brat, don’t be ungrateful. Think it over and call me back.”
This time, before I could hang up, Sun Chuang hung up first. Looking at the now black screen of my phone, I fell into thought. He knew my situation and my urgent need for money to pay for my father’s medical treatment. He was counting on me to agree.
After ten minutes of consideration, I dialed his number back.