As I mentioned before, sons from rural families here usually don't live with their parents after marriage, let alone their grandmothers. Wei Qing handed Xiaowu to me and ran out in a hurry. Not long after, he called the old lady over.
She looked about 70 years old, but in fact, rural women are not good at maintaining their skin, so her appearance is much older than her actual age. The old lady was in good health, her ears and eyes were not deaf, and she walked very vigorously. When she heard that we were Wei Qing's friends and wanted to ask her about some past events, she was very happy.
When I mentioned Xiaofang, the old lady's face immediately darkened and her eyes were filled with tears. None of us said anything. The old lady was too excited, so we asked her to take it easy and not rush her.
After a while, the old lady wiped away her tears, sighed and asked, "Did something happen at Xiaofang's grave?"
I nodded and said, "Not only will something happen, but something serious may happen. We just want to understand the cause of Xiaofang's death so that we can prescribe the right medicine and resolve her resentment."
"Actually, when a silly boy knocked on my window last night and left a few words on the door, I knew Xiaofang hadn't left yet and she was going to cause trouble," said the old lady.
"Ah, is this true?" Shen Bing said in astonishment.
The old lady then talked about last night, when someone jumped into the yard and knocked on the window a few times. She asked who it was, and the person said something stupid and ran away. She came out with a flashlight and saw the words "Plant willows on the grave in seven days" written on the ground at the door.
I was surprised to hear this. Planting willows on the grave is like attracting ghosts. It can make ghosts crawl out along this path to the underworld. Damn, seven days later, isn't that the day when the ancestor comes out of seclusion? If she comes out early, the ancestor may not be able to do anything.
The old lady went on to say that as soon as she saw these words, she knew that it was Xiaofang who came to see her, because she kept going to Xiaofang's grave and always saw a silly boy in the temple smiling at her. The silly boy had come, which meant that Xiaofang had asked him to deliver a message.
Hearing this, Shen Bing asked, "Didn't you go to the grave yesterday? Why didn't the silly boy inform you and had to come in the middle of the night?"
The old lady shook her head: "I didn't go to the grave yesterday. It wasn't a holiday."
We looked at each other in bewilderment. What could be going on? If it wasn't the old lady, then who could it be? Could it be the murderer? It's not impossible. Some of those who criticized Xiaofang are still alive. The strange things that happened in the past two days made them feel uneasy. It makes sense to send some offerings to the grave.
The old lady then told me about the past. Xiaofang liked to look for cultural relics and often traveled around. She came to Xiping Village. The two girls got along well and became good friends. Because the fields of the two villages bordered each other, when they took a break from farm work, they would sit together and chat.
Ten days before Xiaofang died, there was thunder and lightning and heavy rain that night, and Xiaofang suddenly ran to find her. Xiaofang was soaked, her eyes were full of fear, she was holding something wrapped in a towel in her hand, and her whole body was shaking.
At that time, the old lady had not married Grandpa Wei Qing yet, so she quickly asked her to get into her bed and took off her clothes to dry over the fire. The old lady asked her why she came out in such a heavy rain, looking at how wet she was, and asked her not to catch a cold again. In those days, there was a lack of medical care and medicine, and a cold could kill people.
Xiaofang looked out the window at first and refused to speak. After a long time, she let out a sigh and said, "I found a golden box in Beidi Temple!" As she spoke, she lifted the towel in her hand, revealing a golden square box.
Xiu'er had never seen gold since she was a child, so she went to take a look. Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded outside. Xiaofang was so scared that she hurriedly wrapped the towel around the box again and said with fear in her eyes, "Xiu'er, I'm in trouble this time. What should I do?"