Perhaps it was because the bad mood that Chen Ling had when he entered the room was all shown on his face. The small courtyard in Yuheshan was unusually quiet today. Even the purple-blue parrot that loved to eat melon seeds was quiet, and only dared to eat the apple with its beak in a very low voice.
The weasel curled up against the door, its ears twitching from time to time.
Hearing the voices of a man and a dog talking in the room, it felt envious, but it did not dare to rush into the scary room behind.
Even if the scary man wasn't there, his powerful aura still remained inside, easily enough to scare it so much that its hair stood on end.
I don't know how long it took, but the room fell silent.
The weasel stretched out its two paws in front of it, bent its long back, stretched comfortably, and then crawled back to the ground, guarding outside its master's door like a dutiful soldier, and even refused to allow Zhao Xunchang to push the door open and peek again.
Zhao Xunchang gave up pushing the door again and tapped the weasel's head with his finger. Before he could say any words of reproach, the weasel stuck out its pink little tongue and licked his fingertips.
Zhao Xunchang's tense old face instantly broke into a smile. He shook his head and sighed, "What a clever little ghost. He knows how to make people happy."
To use the popular term nowadays, it means being cute.
The weasel tilted its head, and stared at the old man with its round eyes without blinking, as if it didn't understand, but also as if it agreed with what he said.
Zhao Xunchang stood up, glanced at the closed door, and couldn't help but sigh again.
In fact, he didn't know how much Chen Ling knew about his background, but judging from the conversation between him and Li Daoxuan, he probably didn't know much.
The sun had already set below the horizon. Without the disturbance of the daytime light, the little insects that had been hiding came out and kept buzzing in the night.
Zhao Xunchang went back to his room and wrote calligraphy for a while, then, as if he had expected it, he came out at the precise moment, went to the yard and opened the two red-painted wooden doors.
About two or three minutes later, the sound of a car was heard on the road outside.
Soon, a bright white car stopped outside the courtyard, and Chen's parents got out of the car in a hurry, looking worried.
"Mr. Zhao, how is Lingling now? Did he ask anything? What did you tell him?" Mother Chen was nervous and her eyes were red. It was obvious that she had cried on the way here because of her uncontrollable emotions.
Father Chen held his wife's arm, trying to calm her down.
Zhao Xunchang said: "He only knew that he was once a dead man."
Mother Chen did not feel relieved. Instead, she became even more sad, and tears started to flow down her face.
Father Chen clenched his fists and looked a little nervous. "So what did you tell him?"
"He didn't ask." Zhao Xunchang shook his head. "He didn't ask anything. Because of Jiang Yu's matter, he locked himself in the room as soon as he came back. He hasn't said a word to me since then."
After listening to Zhao Xunchang's brief account of what happened today on the phone, Mr. Chen felt only fear in his heart.
When the five thunders fell for the first time, there was not much movement in the direction where they were, but it was different later. The sky was filled with densely packed dark clouds, covering the entire sky. The terrifying thunder and lightning that continuously struck the earth was frightening enough to make people terrified just by looking at it from afar.
At that time, he wanted to joke with his wife with a smile, asking if someone was going through a tribulation.
The prophecy turned out to be correct.
When he learned from Zhao Xunchang that Jiang Yu was punished by heavenly thunder, he was silent for a long time.
Although his sons had seen ghosts many times, they had never experienced them personally or seen them with their own eyes. The supernatural, metaphysics, ghosts, gods and monsters were still far away from them.
It took about half a minute for Father Chen to regain his senses. His first reaction was, what happened to their precious son? His boyfriend was gone just like that, and his son must be very sad.
This thought overshadowed the worry that his son might know his background. Father Chen was uneasy along the way, which attracted his wife's attention.
Mother Chen thought that something more serious had happened to her son, and because she didn't want to worry herself, she asked his father to keep it a secret with him. What Zhao Xunchang said about knowing his background and asking them to go and talk to his son in person must have been just an excuse.
Who would have thought that after questioning, she would find out that her son had fallen in love with a man.
And that man might be dead.
So after her son was outed, Mother Chen realized that her son had become a newly widowed man.
Mother Chen didn't know whether to cry or not. Rationally, she didn't want her son to choose a narrow and single path in his life. She hoped that he would fall in love, get married and have children at the right time.
But emotionally, she hopes that her son can be happy and at peace, not bound by worldly matters, and be happy as he pleases.
This expectation became even stronger after knowing that his son had a brush with death.
Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Children have to walk their own path in life. It is past the time when they need to walk holding hands.
As parents and relatives, instead of standing on the opposite side of our children over worldly issues, it is better to choose to be their support and encouragement.
So when she heard what Zhao Xunchang said, the first thing Chen's mother said was: "His background is not important. I just want to ask, did he cry?"
Chen Ling is not a crying child, but he always cries quietly. Chen's mother is most afraid of her son crying. Once he cries, the whole family doesn't know what to do. They just want to hold him in their arms and do their best to make him happy.
"This..." Zhao Xunchang didn't expect that this would be the first sentence that Chen's mother said to him. He shook his head a little late, "Probably not, but her eyes are red."
Ever since the young disciple started learning Taoism from him, except for the time when he first watched him catch ghosts, his eyes never turned red again.
Thinking of Chen Ling's suppressed sad expression, he said, "Maybe it will be better after a while."
How can the harshness and unforgettable first love be healed after a while? It's not a cold that has no specific medicine to cure it.
For a moment, the three of us fell silent. You looked at me, and I looked at you, sitting around the four tables in the yard in silence.
As the night deepens, the sky becomes darker, making the stars shine brighter.
At almost midnight, Chen Ling woke up from the darkness and subconsciously reached for the empty seat next to him. This was the seat he had reserved for Jiang Yu before he fell asleep.
My fingertips touched nothingness, nothing.
Loss was like a deep ocean, drowning him and making it impossible for him to breathe.
He touched the big dog head pressing on his chest, "Didn't Master say that he would be back when I woke up?" He bit his lower lip and cursed in a low voice, "Liar."
The German Shepherd raised its head and rubbed the young man's chin with its wet nose, followed by a grunt.
It was startled, then sat up suddenly, then tilted its head a little bit and put its furry ears against Chen Ling's belly, "Woof?"
Chen Ling touched his empty stomach awkwardly; he was hungry.
Ever since the small building of Shen Dazhuang's house had a head-on conflict with the people from the Special Investigation Department, he hasn't eaten since then. But he doesn't want to move at all. Jiang Yu's disappearance took away his strength and desire.
But the German Shepherd stubbornly bit his clothes and dragged him under the bed.
Chen Ling couldn't persuade it, so he reached out and pulled a handful of the dog's hair, "Stop pulling, can't I get up?" He said this, but when he got up, he was reluctant to bury his head in the pillow that Jiang Yu had slept on, and took a deep breath like a drug addict.
Seeing that he didn't move, the German Shepherd put his head on the edge of the bed and stared at him like a strict surveillance element.
Chen Ling realized something and suddenly tilted his head. He was stunned when he met the German Shepherd's eyes, and then blurted out: "Is it you?"
The German Shepherd blinked, and its wide-open eyes no longer had the ignorance and cleverness it had when it first came into the world. Instead, it was calm and focused.
Chen Ling slid off the bed, reached out to hold the dog's head, and grasped the soft flesh on both sides of its cheeks with both hands: "Jiang Yu!"
The German Shepherd's movements were very gentle. It tilted its head back and licked the young man's cheek with its tongue, once, twice, then stood up. Its body instantly grew taller, and it laid its head on the young man's shoulder and neck like a spoiled child.
Chen Ling hugged it tightly, his nose buried in the thick fur, and spoke with a nasal tone: "Where have you been? How is your injury?"
He sniffed, his eyes warming.
The two had been separated for only ten hours, but he missed her terribly, especially when he walked into the courtyard where he lived with the man, he seemed to see the other person's shadow everywhere.
The German Shepherd's movement of rubbing against the young man suddenly stopped. Chen Ling realized something and quickly moved the dog's head away from his shoulder.
Sure enough, the German Shepherd returned to his stupid look again.
Chen Ling reached out and touched its head, begging, "Can you help me ask him when he can come back?"
The German Shepherd whined at him, seemingly confused.
At least he knew that the other party could still see him through the German Shepherd's eyes. Chen Ling's heavy and depressed mood suddenly found an outlet, and some of the turbidity was released.
He pulled the corner of his lips, and the German Shepherd quickly moved from squatting to standing, stubbornly biting his owner's clothes and continuing to drag him out.
The wooden door is old, and the hinges always make a squeaking noise when moving.
The three people in the yard looked over at the same time, their eyes showing surprise, concern, worry, and helplessness.
Father Chen was the calmest. He walked over and put his palm on one of his son's shoulders: "Your mother and I are worried about you, so we came to see you."
Chen Ling thought of the questions he had asked Li Daoxuan before. He pursed his lips and guessed that it must be his master who asked his parents to come over, perhaps because he had something to tell him.
He looked down at his toes for a few moments, then looked up and said, "Dad, I'm a little hungry. I want to get something to eat first."
"Mom will help you." Mother Chen stood up, glanced at every door, found the kitchen, and quickly walked in.
Chen Ling followed in and looked at his mother's busy figure, feeling a little sad, especially after she asked him attentively and carefully what he wanted to eat, the sadness was magnified many times.
He reached out and held his mother's hand, and whispered, "You want to tell me something."
“No… Yes… Lingling, your father and I… we…” It turns out that psychological preparation and self-comforting words are useless when you really face difficult problems.
The words I had organized on the way were now all stuck in my throat. I finally managed to get out a few words, but they were still incoherent.
Seeing his mother struggling with his confusing expression, Chen Ling suddenly opened his arms and gave her a tight hug. His voice was still hoarse and low, but his words were gentle and firm: "Mom, don't be so nervous. No matter what, I will always be your and Dad's son."
Mother Chen's tears welled up all of a sudden. "I know, I know."
Chen Ling patted her on the back: "So now do you have time to tell me a story from twenty years ago?"
Twenty years ago was the year Chen Ling was born.
That was already the sixth year that the Chen couple had been married, and they still hadn't been able to conceive.
And with long-term treatment, they begin to feel tired and even want to give up.
The doctor's advice was that they should change their environment, relax and then make further plans.
At that time, Yuhe Mountain was lush and green, and was filled with the breath of life. Every morning you could see mist, and every evening there were red clouds and sunsets. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a paradise.
So after discussing with his wife, Mr. Chen took his luggage and rented a small courtyard at the foot of Yuhe Mountain, which he owned, to live temporarily.
This stay lasted for a full half a year.
Perhaps due to the environment, the couple's depressed mood was relieved, and they became more open-minded and no longer forced to have children.
On the evening before they were about to leave, Father Chen took Mother Chen up the mountain, wanting to dig some wild vegetables to bring back to the city. However, after reaching the top of the mountain, they heard a baby crying.
The baby's crying sounded very strange, as if its mouth was covered by something, making it difficult to hear clearly.
Mother Chen was timid and held her husband's arm tightly: "Honey, could it be a ghost? Why is there a baby crying in the middle of the night?"
Even though Mr. Chen was a bit brave, as the sun went down and the moonlight lengthened the shadows of the trees, flowers and plants, he gradually felt a bit eerie. But as a husband, he felt he had to set a tall image for his wife.
"Wait here, I'll go take a look."
Father Chen bent down, walked forward following the sound, and finally stopped in a certain place.
He had a strange look on his face, staring at the ground beneath his feet with a frown. The sound came from beneath the ground.
Father Chen felt a chill down his spine. This was too weird!
He was about to turn around and leave quickly with his wife, but somehow he hesitated when he turned around. After thinking for a few minutes, he went to call his wife and went back down the mountain to find two small shovels from the temporary house.
When they came back, the crying had become fainter.
Father Chen was inexplicably anxious. He pulled his wife to move quickly, carefully but quickly throwing away the soil.
Only then did they discover that there was a shoe box buried underneath, and the baby's crying came from the shoe box.
Mother Chen's heart trembled. She looked at her husband and gently opened the lid of the shoe box. A purple baby was curled up inside. Because of the small space, his head was pressed against his knees and his back was severely bent.
On the side of the shoe box, there was a piece of white paper with faint black writing on it and a stack of brand new paper money for the dead.
Strangely enough, after the baby was gently held out by Mother Chen, he suddenly stopped crying, and stared at Mother Chen with his bright black eyes without blinking.
Father Chen then took out the white paper and read the contents, but no matter how many times he read it, he still felt confused.
He could clearly recognize all the words on it, so why couldn't he understand their meaning when they were put together
Mother Chen realized that her husband's expression was not right, and asked softly: "What exactly is written on it? Is it the contact information of his relatives? Or something else?" After saying this, Mother Chen frowned and said angrily, "The one who can bury a living child here must be a beast. How could he leave personal information?"
"No." Father Chen's throat was dry. He swallowed a few times and said, "The child was indeed buried alive here, but that was eight days ago..."
On the paper is a mother's cry and confession.
She cried about her helplessness and pain of having a child out of wedlock, and confessed that she did not intend to abandon the child, but did so out of helplessness in life and in order to prevent the child from living in pain, she would be despised and mocked for the rest of his life.
Because the child was born with no response to sound and light.
This person is born blind and mute.
At the end, it’s the time she wrote the letter, eight days ago.