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"What should we do then?"
"Old Huzi's family paid a sum of money to the troupe leader. It's not a small amount."
Cui Guiying imdiately patted Zhao Sii's arm and raised her eyebrows: "There's sothing fishy going on!"
Zhao Sii quickly patted back Cui Guiying's arm and lifted her chin: "Indeed!"
Old Huzi was previously the deputy director of the grain station in town, which was a cushy job. Even though he's retired now, aside from his youngest son who is idle, his other sons all have jobs in the town. In this village, even the village chief's family can't compare to his in terms of prestige.
So, if Old Huzi is willing to pay to settle the matter, there must be a catch!
"So, after giving the money, did the troupe leader leave?"
"He left."
"And the person? They're not looking anymore?"
"What's there to look for? The troupe already took their gear, hopped on a truck, and went off to the next venue."
"Oh." Cui Guiying shook her head, "Hope nothing bad happens."
"Who knows."
"People can be so deceitful."
"Exactly."
When Hu Zi and Shitou suddenly started crying:
"Boo hoo hoo! Little Huang Ying, Little Huang Ying!"
"My Little Huang Ying, Little Huang Ying is missing, boo hoo!"
Zhao Sii almost burst out laughing when she saw this and pointed: "See that? Your two grandsons are quite the sentintal ones."
Cui Guiying gave her a look and said: "Isn't there a granddaughter in your family too? Why not pair them?"
"Hmph." Zhao Sii snorted and pointed at Li Zhiyuan: "If we were to beco relatives, it'll have to be with your Little Yuanhou. That way, my granddaughter can also follow him to the capital and enjoy a good life."
"Go away, stop dreaming of such fanciful things."
Li Weihan had finished his al. The won were gossiping about things he wasn't interested in, nor was it appropriate for him to chi in. He silently picked up his water pipe, opened his matchbox to find it empty.
Li Zhiyuan put down his chopsticks and ran to the stove to fetch a box of matches for Li Weihan.
Li Weihan didn't take them but moved his pipe closer to Li Zhiyuan.
Li Zhiyuan smiled, pulled out a match, and went "scratch" "scratch" "scratch". He finally sparked a fla and carefully shielded it with his other hand as he lowered the match to the pipe.
Li Weihan took several puffs until smoke filled the air, his heart content and face smiling.
Back then, his own daughter had also liked to light his cigarettes and even promised to buy him a box of cigarettes when she grew up.
"Huh."
Li Zhiyuan blew out the match, threw it on the ground, and stamped on it several tis with his shoe.
Panzi spoke up: "Grandpa, shall we go pick lotus seeds by boat this afternoon?"
Li Weihan glanced at the bland food on the table, nodded, and said: "Take Leizi with you, bring the net, and see if you can catch a few fish for your grandma to make soup."
Upon hearing this, Hu Zi and Shitou quickly forgot about Little Huang Ying and shouted, "Grandpa, I want to go too, I want to go!"
The other kids also chid in, fearing they might miss out on the fun.
Li Weihan sternly scanned around and scolded: "I'm telling you, there are water monkeys in this river, they drag people under to drown and take their place, so they can reincarnate."
Imdiately, the children were scared and dared not speak.
Shitou, dissatisfied, asked: "Why can the older boys go?"
Panzi and Leizi, being the older children, had more sense and played along with Grandpa to scare their younger siblings:
"I'm strong, the water monkeys can't hold on to ."
"I'm a good swimr, the water monkeys can't catch ."
Li Zhiyuan wasn't intimidated; he also wanted to go but was too shy to say anything. He just lowered his head, playing with his hands and sneakily glancing at Grandpa.
Li Weihan said: "Little Yuanhou will join as well."
Hu Zi imdiately protested: "This isn't fair, Yuanzi is only a year older than ."
Shitou backed him up: "Right, Brother Yuan isn't even as strong as , how can he fight with water monkeys!"
Li Weihan slowly exhaled a ring of smoke and gave a very reasonable explanation that even the children believed:
"Little Yuanhou is from outside, our local water monkeys don't know him."
...
The houses in the village were basically built by the water, with their main entrances facing the road and back doors towards the river.
When washing vegetables and clothes, one only needs to carry their stuff out the back door and down a few bluestone steps to reach the riverbank.
Those who knew how to live often set up a net along the stretch of river behind their house to raise ducks and geese.
The boat of the Li family was tied to the persimmon tree at their back door. Li Weihan untied the rope and boarded the boat first, stabilizing it with a bamboo pole.
Panzi, carrying a fishing rod, and Leizi, holding a fishing net, jumped aboard one after the other.
Li Zhiyuan, with a small bamboo basket on his back, was lifted onto the boat by Li Weihan.
"All aboard, let's set sail!"
With the bamboo pole on the water's surface dipping and rising, the boat began to move.
Panzi and Leizi were used to it and lay back leisurely on the boat, while Li Zhiyuan sat up straight, watching the water grass drifting past and dragonflies skimming the water.
"Here, Yuanzi." Panzi handed over a small handful of roasted beans.
He was from the eldest's family, close to ho, and would find ti to sneak ho to grab so snacks, but his mom would warn him to hide these treats for himself and not to share.
On the other hand, Li Zhiyuan's mother, dressed in military uniform, brought with her a large bag of snacks, including biscuits, pork floss, canned fruit, etc., when she handed over Li Zhiyuan, and another big pack ca by mail the other day, all locked up in the cabinet by Cui Guiying for daily rationing to all the children.
"Thank you, Brother Panzi."
Li Zhiyuan took it and popped a bean into his mouth; locals called it "fist bean," which was actually broad beans, fried in shells with so spices and salt, crunchy and fragrant.
Yet, he didn't like it much; they were too hard to bite and could easily crack a tooth.
So, while his two brothers crunched continuously, Li Zhiyuan just held a bean in his mouth like a lozenge.
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