The summer night sky was filled with stars.
The courtyard was as bright as day.
A gentle breeze brought a hint of coolness.
And this time, Liu Nanfeng could also see his information clearly.
Name: Liu Yuancai
Race: Water Ghost
Cultivation: Forty-seven years
Identity: A spirit of the water, shapeless and formless, it flees when encountering water.
Past karma: Not triggered.
Seeing the boy’s timid appearance, Liu Nanfeng smiled and said hello.
"Here... this is for you."
He held out the two fish, strung together with grass rope, in his hand.
Liu Nanfeng didn't stand on ceremony and walked forward to take them.
"Thank you," Liu Nanfeng said.
The boy’s lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
"Come and sit," Liu Nanfeng said, carrying the two fish, and beckoned him over to the long bench nearby.
It had been moved out for playing mahjong in the evening and hadn't been put away.
The boy hesitated for a moment, then walked over, leaving wet footprints behind him.
"Wait a moment, I'll put the fish in the kitchen," Liu Nanfeng said.
The boy nodded.
The two fish were still alive. Liu Nanfeng put them into the water vat, added some more water, and then took out a watermelon.
"Do you want to eat watermelon?" Liu Nanfeng asked with a smile.
The boy looked at Liu Nanfeng with some surprise, then asked softly, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
"Will you harm me?" Liu Nanfeng asked.
The boy shook his head.
"Then that's all there is to it, isn't it? My name is Liu Nanfeng, what's yours?" Liu Nanfeng asked.
Although he already knew the boy's name.
"A Cai."
"Uh... what's your full name?"
The boy blinked his eyes, then shook his head and said, "Everyone calls me A Cai."
It seemed he was a confused ghost.
Well, in that era, it wasn't uncommon for rural children to not know their full names.
"Can you eat watermelon?" Liu Nanfeng asked.
A Cai nodded.
So Liu Nanfeng cut the watermelon and handed him a slice.
"Thank you."
A Cai took it, quite politely.
He brought his mouth to the watermelon and sucked deeply, drawing out all the moisture, leaving it dry and shriveled, very quickly.
"There's plenty more here, eat slowly."
Liu Nanfeng pushed the cut watermelon towards him and then sat down beside him.
Then he asked, "What brings you to find me so late at night?"
Hearing Liu Nanfeng's question, he stopped eating watermelon, looked up, and said with a happy expression, "You're the first person who can see me."
Then his expression turned dim, and he said a little sadly, "Others can't see me."
Liu Nanfeng, hearing this, took a closer look at him in the moonlight.
He looked about six or seven years old, with a buzz cut, wearing a blue tank top that revealed his dark skin. He wore army green shorts on his lower half, tied at the waist with a string, and no shoes. He sat barefoot on the bench, dripping water.
"Really?"
"Yes, of course, actually, two other people saw me today, but they aren't human, they... they... are very scary."
A Cai said, turning his head to look at the house behind him.
Liu Nanfeng knew he was likely referring to Su Jinxiu and Zhan Zhongxiao.
Both of them were far superior to A Cai. His instinct to ward off evil made him feel fearful. If he hadn't been waiting for many years for someone who could see him, he wouldn't have come tonight at all.
"You still haven't told me what you need me for," Liu Nanfeng asked again.
Hearing this, A Cai rubbed his hands nervously. Water flowed down from him, and it was clear he was very tense.
Mixed with the water were streaks of bright red liquid, which looked a bit frightening. In reality, it was the juice from the watermelon he had just eaten.
"It's alright, just tell me directly what's on your mind."
"Can you, can you help me find A Wang?"
"A Wang?"
Liu Nanfeng was a little surprised. Was this another little boy?
A Cai nodded, then said, "A Wang is my best friend."
"I see. What do you need him for? You said just now that I'm the first person who can see you, so even if I find him, he won't be able to see you."
"He doesn't need to see me. I want to tell him that I found his little wooden boat..."
As A Cai spoke, his voice became choked with emotion.
He reached up to wipe his eyes, but more water flowed down.
"If I return the little wooden boat to him, he won't ignore me and will continue to be my friend."
"Alright, don't be sad, I'll help you find him."
Liu Nanfeng reached out to gently pat him, but as soon as he touched him, the darkness of the night receded like a tide.
Light erupted, blurring his vision.
But he could hear the chirping of cicadas, the crowing of roosters, the barking of dogs, the mooing of cows, and the laughter of children.
His vision slowly recovered. Liu Nanfeng knew this was a memory recall, but he found it very strange.
Why, during this memory recall, would he experience temporary blindness due to a sudden flash of light?
It made no sense at all. After all, he didn't even have a body now, so how could blindness occur?
But before he could ponder it further, he saw two children run past him.
"A Wang, A Wang, let me play with it, let me play with it..."
It was A Cai speaking.
Running ahead was A Wang, a little boy of about the same age as A Cai.
He was shirtless, wearing dark blue shorts, with dark skin. Like A Cai, he was barefoot.
In his hands, he held aloft a small wooden boat, crudely made, as if carved from a single piece of wood.
But this made A Cai behind him envious.
"A Cai, shall we go to the river and sail the boat together?"
"Okay."
A Cai happily agreed.
And so, on this hot afternoon, the two little boys, their feet burning on the hot ground, ran towards the river.
"Is this how they drowned?"
Liu Nanfeng followed them curiously.
Soon, they arrived at the embankment of the Donghui River.
The scenery on the embankment was vastly different from what he had seen during the day.
At this time, the Donghui River was much narrower, and there were few trees on its banks, only wild grass and thorns.
Among these thorns, a dirt path, trodden by people, wound its way to the riverbank.
The two little boys followed this path to the river.
As they passed by, they picked some wildflowers and placed them in the small boat, and also grabbed two thorny branches in their hands. As they walked, they whistled and swung them towards the wildflowers and weeds by the path, causing grass clippings to fly.
Judging by their demeanor, they were clearly two mischievous little rascals.
When they reached the riverbank, Liu Nanfeng noticed that some stones and wooden planks were laid out near the water, likely used by villagers for washing rice and clothes.
The two little fellows placed the wooden boat in the water and used the thorny branches in their hands to create waves, making the small boat sway on the water.
"It's so hot, A Cai, shall we go into the water and swim?" A Wang looked up at the sun in the sky and said to A Cai.
For some reason, seeing A Wang's appearance, Liu Nanfeng felt a vague sense of familiarity.
"Will the water be very deep here?" A Cai asked hesitantly.
"Not deep, I tried last time."
Saying this, A Wang directly took off his pants and leaped into the water with his bare bottom, splashing a wave that sent the small boat drifting towards the center of the river.
"The boat!" A Cai exclaimed.
A Wang quickly swam forward and grabbed the small boat back.
At this point, A Cai also got into the water with his bare bottom.
However, neither of them dared to swim towards the center of the river. They stayed by the bank, splashing the boat on the water's surface, facing each other, pushing it back and forth...
A simple game, but it kept them both entertained endlessly.
"A Cai, A Cai..."
A woman's voice called from the bank.
"A Cai, where are you, not watching your cow, it's eating my crops."
"This is bad." A Cai startled, quickly climbed ashore, picked up his clothes, and ran towards the embankment with his bare bottom.
Seeing A Cai go up, A Wang also climbed ashore.
Since this was A Cai's memory recall, his perspective could only follow A Cai.
It turned out A Cai was herding cattle and had forgotten about it while playing with A Wang. He had let the cow eat Aunt Mei's crops and was caught and criticized by Aunt Mei, who threatened to tell his mother.
A Cai, leading the cow, looked guilty.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Mei, please don't tell my parents, they'll beat me to death."
"You're scared now? What were you doing earlier?"
"Playing with A Wang."
"I think you were playing in the water, weren't you? You two little fellows are really brave, be careful not to drown in the river."
"Don't worry, I can swim," A Cai said proudly.
"It's the ones who can swim who drown, you little brat. This time it's fine, I won't tell your parents, just watch your cow."
"Thank you, Aunt Mei."
"It's hot, go home early."
"Understood, Aunt Mei," A Cai said, swinging himself onto the cow's back.
"A Cai, are you going home?"
"Yes, I'm taking the cow back," A Cai said, looking at the small wooden boat in A Wang's hand.
"Do you want to play with it?"
"Yes, can you let me play with it?" A Cai asked, surprised.
A Wang heard this, thought for a moment, and reluctantly handed it over.
"I'll lend it to you for now, but don't break it."
"Okay, A Wang, you're so nice." A Cai took it with delight.
"Of course, we're best friends," A Wang said, puffing out his chest proudly.
Then he turned and ran towards the road in the distance, "I'm going home, I'll find you to play with tomorrow."
"Okay."
A Cai happily responded, tightly grasping the small wooden boat in his hand.
Then the scenery reversed. When Liu Nanfeng came back to his senses, A Cai was alone by the river again.
He had not only filled the small wooden boat with flowers and grass but also added a few small stones, likely to see how much weight the small boat could bear.
He used a thorny branch to steer the small boat, creating ripples on the water's surface.
The sun was setting, as if dyeing the entire river surface gold.
The village behind them seemed to awaken from its slumber, and wisps of smoke slowly rose from the chimneys, dispersing into the air.
"Ah lou lou lou..."
"Gugu gugu..."
The calls of chickens and ducks were incessant.
A Cai looked back, likely preparing to go home. He reached out with the thorny branch to hook the small wooden boat back towards him, but perhaps because there were too many stones inside, the small boat was too heavy. Not only did it not come closer, but it drifted towards the center of the river.
Seeing this, A Cai became even more anxious. He tried a few more times, and the small boat drifted further away.
As the small boat was about to drift to the center of the river, A Cai panicked. He jumped into the river without even taking off his clothes.
But because his movements were too large, a large splash was created. The small boat wobbled a few times, its head heavy and its tail light, and sank directly to the bottom.
"My little wooden boat..." A Cai cried out in alarm, and then tried to swim towards the center of the river.
"Be careful, come back quickly."
Knowing that A Cai couldn't hear him, Liu Nanfeng couldn't help but remind him.
Clearly, A Cai was not stupid and knew that the water in the center of the river was deep. So he didn't continue forward, but just stared blankly at the water's surface where the "shipwreck" had occurred, his face filled with disappointment and panic.
After a while, he slowly crawled ashore and walked towards the embankment, still clutching the thorny branch in his hand.
As he walked, A Cai suddenly burst into tears.
Wiping his tears, he walked home.
Liu Nanfeng wasn't surprised that he would cry over such a small matter, even though the so-called little wooden boat was just a piece of broken wood.
But it carried A Wang's trust in him, and it carried A Wang's friendship with him.
He had lost the little wooden boat, and he didn't know how he would explain it to A Wang tomorrow.
Children's friendships were pure and clear, without any impurities, which was why A Cai was so sad.
As A Cai's cries continued, the sky seemed to darken, and the air became more oppressive. Everything seemed to be sad with him.
But soon, the scenery receded like a tide again, arriving at the next day.
"A Cai, A Cai..."
Early in the morning, A Wang came to A Cai's house holding a blue-rimmed enamel bowl.
A Cai was eating breakfast, a large bowl of congee with pickled beans on top.
"A Cai, after breakfast, let's go pick mulberries, okay?"
"Okay... okay," A Cai said guiltily.
"The mulberries below have all been picked, only the ones on the treetops are left. Let's find a long bamboo pole."
"Okay... okay," A Cai replied, lowering his head.
"A Cai, eat your breakfast," A Cai's mother called from inside. A Cai quickly ran back into the house.
A Wang did not notice A Cai's abnormality. Holding his bowl, he squatted at the entrance of A Cai's house and slurped his breakfast.
At this moment, A Cai stood inside, hesitated for a while, and finally came out with his bowl, squatting together with A Wang.
"A Cai, I'm telling you, my dad said my uncle from the city will be back in a few days."
"Really?"
A Cai, who had been feeling uneasy, immediately perked up at this news.
Because returning from the city meant bringing delicious food.
"Yes, my uncle dotes on me. I wonder what he'll bring me this time," A Wang said happily.
"It will definitely be delicious, maybe even a toy," A Cai said excitedly.
"It might be a pencil case. Last time, my uncle said I'm already in school and shouldn't play with toys anymore. What's wrong with toys, toys are fun."
"Yes, toys are fun, I want a toy too," A Cai said with longing.
"If my uncle brings me a toy, I'll lend it to you."
"A Wang, you're so nice."
"Of course,对了, where's my little wooden boat? Can you give it back to me?"
A Cai froze at this, speechless for a moment.
"You lost my little wooden boat?" Seeing his expression, how could A Wang not guess something?
"A Wang, I'm sorry," A Cai said sadly.
"Is 'sorry' enough? I... what did you promise me when I lent it to you? I'm not playing with you anymore," A Wang said, holding his bowl and leaving angrily.
"A Wang..."
Seeing A Wang leave, A Cai wanted to chase after him, but in the end, he stopped.