Chapter 36

Xiaofei was wrapped in a wide white cotton blanket, and on his head was a wreath made of dodder vines, hanging down like long hair.

After finding Xiaocheng, Xiaoyang first climbed up a tree with a tape recorder borrowed from Liu Mingxing’s house and played the pre-recorded horror movie soundtrack.

Amidst the music, Xiaofei made his appearance.

The white blanket covered his feet, making him look like a zombie. He moved with his legs straight, and in the darkness of the night, from a distance, he seemed to be floating.

He stopped about two meters away from Xiaocheng. The light in the forest was already dim, and Xiaofei’s appearance was so eerie that it naturally frightened Xiaocheng.

“Fei, do you think Xiaocheng will really go to Lao Shuan tomorrow?” Xiaoyang asked on the way back to the village.

“He will definitely go!”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because Xiaocheng is lazy and gluttonous. He wants a better life. If he can really recognize Lao Shuan as his father, it will only benefit him. Why wouldn’t he try?”

“Will Lao Shuan recognize him?”

“I think the possibility is very high.”

“Why?”

“Because Lao Shuan has a guilty conscience. His guilty conscience is the woman, Xiaocheng’s mother, whom he forced to commit suicide. If he hears Xiaocheng say that it was Xiaocheng’s deceased mother who sent him, do you think he wouldn’t be afraid?”

Xiaoyang fell silent.

He had to admire his brother’s cunning.

As they approached the village, Xiaoyang said, “Now, the Liu family will be disgraced.”

“That’s what they deserve!” Xiaofei sneered.

“Ha! Your line, ‘My mother said, if you don’t recognize me, she will come out of the ground and take you away,’ was brilliant. How did you come up with it?” Xiaoyang suddenly asked with a smile.

Xiaofei chuckled, “It just came to me, and I blurted it out.”

Thinking back to his past life, Zhao Benshan and Song Dandan’s 2008 Spring Festival Gala sketch “Torchbearer” was quite funny, but the line “Whoever tries to take the torchbearer’s position, my father and I will take them away” left the deepest impression on Xiaofei. He never thought it would come in handy here.

As Xiaoyang said, the Liu family was indeed about to be disgraced.

This night was destined to be restless.

Lao Shuan lived in the same courtyard as the Liu family. They had three brick and tile houses, and the front yard was paved. The gate had a gatehouse and two iron doors, making their home stand out in Xili Village.

It was already 10:30 PM, and the Liu family’s iron gate was tightly closed.

But there was still light in the main room, and the theme song of “The Legend of the White Snake” was playing:

The West Lake’s beauty in March,

Spring rain like wine, willows like smoke...

At this time, the TV series was very popular, and almost every TV channel in the country was broadcasting it in the evenings.

In 1996, very few households in Xili Village had TVs, and the Liu family would close their gates at night to prevent others from coming to watch TV.

At 10:30 PM, it was already very late in the countryside, and most people were sound asleep.

Of course, to stay cool and save electricity, many people in the village slept outdoors, and there were people lying on both sides of the village streets.

Lao Shuan was not yet asleep.

He had just woken up from a nightmare, dreaming about the woman surnamed Cao.

He was 71 years old, still relatively healthy, but he was very thin and bony.

Lao Shuan lived in the north room of the main house. His wife had died a few years ago, leaving him alone.

At this moment, he heard a loud knocking on the gate and a sharp, terrified voice shouting, “Lao Shuan, Lao Shuan, come out!”

“Lao Shuan, my mother said you are my real father. No matter what, you have to recognize me tonight!”

“My mother said, if you don’t recognize me, she will come out of the ground and take you away!”

Lao Shuan suddenly sat up in bed, put on his clothes, and went out to see what was happening.

At this time, the Liu family, who were watching TV in the living room, also came out. Liu Zhenhai, looking furious, muttered, “Who the hell is it? To dare come to my house at this time, are they tired of living?”

The noise from Xiaocheng’s knocking and shouting was so loud that people sleeping on the village streets were woken up and gathered around, rubbing their sleepy eyes.

“Who is it?”

“What are they doing? Shouting in the middle of the night, disturbing everyone’s sleep.”

Upon closer inspection, it was the notorious troublemaker Xiaocheng, smashing the gate of the local tyrant Liu Zhenhai’s house and saying some strange things.

Everyone drew a sharp breath: Is this kid asking for a beating?

Seeing that about twenty people had gathered, Xiaocheng, who had been extremely frightened by the ghost of his mother, began to recount the story of how he had encountered his mother’s ghost in the small forest at the eastern end of the village.

The villagers, feeling a chill down their spines, began to gossip.

“It seems Xiaocheng’s real father is indeed Lao Shuan.”

“Xiaocheng’s deceased mother is really angry. If Lao Shuan doesn’t recognize Xiaocheng, she will come out of the ground and take Lao Shuan away. Isn’t that clear? If he doesn’t agree, she will kill Lao Shuan!”

“Poor Xianghe, he carried the burden for thirty years and raised someone else’s child. It’s really not fair to him.”

“Why didn’t Xianghe defend himself?”

“Monks are known for their self-sacrifice, ‘If I don’t go to hell, who will?’ Don’t you think Xianghe is the most devout Buddhist?”

“In my opinion, the most shameless and faceless person is Lao Shuan. He framed a good person and forced his lover to commit suicide to protect himself.”

“So, now his retribution has come. Let’s see how he deals with this tonight.”

Although it was late at night, more and more people gathered at Liu Zhenhai’s house. From the initial five or six, the crowd grew to over thirty, all chattering and whispering.

Liu Zhenhai, with his two sons, rushed out of the house, ready to open the door and beat up the troublemaker who dared to challenge him.

But he was stopped by Lao Shuan, who had come out first.

“Father, why are you stopping me?” Liu Zhenhai asked.

Lao Shuan stammered, unable to speak.

But he refused to let Liu Zhenhai open the door.

Liu Zhenhai was not stupid. After listening for a while, he understood the whole story.

“Father, is that kid Xiaocheng really your illegitimate son?” Liu Zhenhai asked his father bluntly.

“Yes, it’s true,” Lao Shuan said, his face full of shame.

“Hmph! You old pervert, don’t you know shame!” Wang Guizhi scolded.

“Shut up!” Liu Zhenhai shouted at his wife.

“Shut up, then! It’s your Liu family’s shame, not mine! Xinmei, let’s go back to the room and see how they resolve this!” Wang Guizhi angrily pulled Liu Xinmei back into the house.

“Father, tell me, what do you plan to do?” Liu Zhenhai asked angrily.

Lao Shuan looked pitiful, his face twisted with fear. “Zhenhai, to be honest, I just had another dream about Cao. It’s almost the same as what Xiaocheng said outside. I think it must be Cao who sent Xiaocheng to me. If I don’t agree, I might die, and our family won’t have a good future. Ghosts won’t reason with us.”

This old man is afraid of death...

“Do you plan to recognize that Xiaocheng?”

“I can’t not recognize him.”

“Have you thought about it? If you recognize that illegitimate child, how will we face the villagers and the townspeople? What will they think of our Liu family? Father! Our family’s reputation will be ruined! Do you understand?”

Overall, Liu Zhenhai was still filial.

“Zhenhai, what do you suggest?” Lao Shuan’s lips trembled.

Liu Zhenhai waved his hand. “In my opinion, we should deny it completely! Say that Xiaocheng is spreading rumors and just beat him up!”

“No, we can’t do that. It will completely offend Cao. I don’t want to die!”

“Thud!”

Lao Shuan knelt down in front of his son.

“Ah! Father, Father! What are you doing? Get up quickly!” Liu Zhenhai reached out to pull Lao Shuan up, but Lao Shuan refused to stand.

“Zhenhai, if you don’t agree, I will kneel here until I die!” Lao Shuan’s tears streamed down his face.

“Alright, alright! I agree, I agree, okay?” Liu Zhenhai stomped his foot, his face full of anger. He never expected his father to give him such a difficult problem.