Chapter 71 Hometown (ETL)
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Chapter 71 Feng Shui Kills
The whole family looked at Gu Yang with the same expression as if they were looking at a little fool. At the side, Mrs. Gu felt even more exhausted (mentally). There were 4 brothers in the family, and each of the brothers was smarter than the other. However, the one she gave birth to was the dumbest.
Gu Yang explained how they had gotten the steamed buns and dumplings with great excitement, and emphasized that Gu Ye’s ability was unique in the world, so much so that the whole family didn’t believe it.
Gu Decheng picked up a bun and said with emotion, “It’s true that I haven’t seen such a big bun for a long time. When I was a child, your grandmother also made it. During the Chinese New Year, she would steam a big pot of it and put a piece of meat in a bun as the filling. And it will be enough to be used to celebrate Chinese New Year.”
Gu Ye smiled, “So it’s worth it to bring back this pot of big buns.”
Gu Decheng smiled and tasted one, “It tastes like a farmer’s homemade, better than asking for money (fee money for helping the child).”
Smiling, Gu Ye asked, “It tastes like hometown, right?”
Gu Decheng nodded with satisfaction, “Indeed, very good.”
Mrs. Gu saw that her husband liked it and chipped in, “If you want to eat more of it, I’ll find an aunt to learn from her how to steam this kind of bun.”
At the side, Gu Yang shook his head and said seriously, “Mom, our kitchen conditions are not suitable, you have to get that kind of big pot!” Gu Yang gestured, “It has to be this big! It must be able to accommodate dozens of buns in one pot!”
Mrs. Gu rolled her eyes, just wanting Gu Yang to shut up.
Gu Yang had a look of superiority on his face that said, “I know everything, you don’t understand at all.” He also couldn’t understand the hint from his mother as he continued, “You still have to burn firewood.”
Mrs. Gu sneered, “Burning firewood pollutes the environment so much, I use electricity.”
“Electricity won’t work. Electricity won’t recreate that ‘homemade’ smell. You have to go to the mountains to chop wood. Carry a small basket and find dry wood. Wet wood won’t light up.” Gu Yang thought about it and clapped his hands excitedly, “Aiya, what a poor old lady!”
The 3 brothers all looked at Gu Yang, feeling like this child was hopeless, even Gu Decheng was trying to hold back his laughter. Mrs. Gu stood up angrily and pulled Gu Yang’s ears. She said unhappily, “I see that you don’t want to eat lunch so go and hang up the festive lanterns for me! If you can’t finish the work in the afternoon, you won’t be allowed to eat at night!”
Being pulled at the ear, Gu Yang groaned in pain, not knowing where he had offended his mother. When the whole family was having lunch at noon, he climbed the ladder to hang up the lantern, with a wronged expression on his face that he had been hurt by the whole family.
Gu Ye smiled evilly. The eldest brother would definitely not do this kind of work. The second brother was as elegant as a nobleman, and it was impossible for him to climb the ladder. He didn’t want to do it either, so they could only trouble Old Fourth to do it.
Seeing Gu Sen walking around the yard with a cold face, Gu Ye whispered, “Big brother must be worried about Old Fourth. He wants to help, but he can’t put down his face (ego) to do it.”
Gu Lin shook his head and said disdainfully, “He is just prideful. Not sure who suffers the most now.”
Gu Ye squinted his eyes and looked at Gu Sen for a while, and suddenly laughed. Shouting through the window, he said, “Big brother, you have romantic luck this year!”
Outside the window, Gu Sen’s expression darkened when he heard that, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Gu Decheng asked in surprise when he heard this, “Really?”
Gu Ye said confidently, “It’s true, my big brother will definitely have romantic luck this year, and it’s a good one.”
Gu Sen glared at Gu Ye unhappily, “Shut up!”
“Dad!”
“Eldest son, shut up! Let Old Third continue.”
Gu Ye smiled and said, “I can only see that big brother has romantic luck, but I can’t be sure whether that person is my future sister-in-law. Big brother, good luck yo~”
Gu Sen: “…”
…
On the day of New Year’s Eve, it was finally the highlight, the ancestor worship session.
After the family was ready to set off, they went to the ancestral grave to burn incense and then started the ceremony to invite the ancestors to come home for the New Year. The 4 brothers kowtowed to the great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandfather, grandmother, second grandfather, and second grandmother one by one. In the middle of winter, the ground was cold and hard, and the small soil grains hurt their knees.
After Gu Yang kowtowed twice, he winced and turned to look at his brothers. Eldest brother was as expressionless as always but the strange thing was that second and third brother did not have a change of expressions (pain). Gu Yang subconsciously glanced at Gu Ye who was most afraid of pain, and then he realized something different. There’s a part at both brothers’ knees that looked particularly… thick!
Gu Yang asked in a low voice, “Brother, what did you stuff at your knees?”
However, Gu Ye only expressionlessly said, “Be serious, there’s a row of ancestors looking at you and they like you very much.”
Hearing that, Gu Yang was so scared that he shut up and didn’t even dare to rub his knees secretly.
Finally, they arrived at the tomb of Gu Ye’s mother. Gu Decheng squatted down, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped the photo of his wife clean. The woman in the photo has a smile on her lips and has delicate features. There is pride and confidence between her eyebrows (in her eyes). In the early days of Gu Decheng’s business, if he hadn’t had the help of his first wife, he would not have achieved what he has now.
Gu Decheng said in a deep voice, “Give your respect (kowtow) to your mother, let her see that you have all grown up.”
The 3 brothers kowtowed to their mother. Gu Yang saw his brothers kowtow and followed them. He knelt beside Gu Ye and kowtowed before calling out ‘Mother’.
Mrs. Gu, who had been standing aside and seemed to be an outsider and difficult to integrate, was so angry at her son’s actions that her mouth twitched furiously. It makes her feel like she is dead.
At first, the 3 brothers were feeling sad in reminiscing their dead mother but when they saw what Gu Yang did, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Gu Decheng also laughed, “Okay, Laoda (Eldest son) carry all the memorial tablets. We are going back to celebrate the New Year.”
Walked in front of the group, Gu Sen led the walk with dozens of tablets in his arms. Gu Ye turned to see behind but there was no ancestor following them. Not his grandparents, let alone his mother. After all, the ceremony to invite ancestors to go back to celebrate the New Year together is just a spiritual sustenance for the living.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, the whole family watched the Spring Festival Gala together. Gu Decheng glanced at Gu Ye who was sitting on the sofa eating melon seeds, “Old Third, come.”
Gu Ye blinked, put on his indoor slippers, and followed his father upstairs, “Dad, what’s wrong?”
After pondering for a moment, Gu Decheng asked with a complicated expression, “Has your mother ever blamed me?”
Gu Ye was stunned for a moment before he understood what his father meant. He smiled, “No, my mother has gone for reincarnation. Generally speaking, the deceased will head for reincarnation if they have nothing to worry about/no regrets.”
Gu Decheng stood there in surprise for a long time before sighing, “So she’s gone.”
Gu Ye was open-minded and comforted his father, “She’s gone, which is good. Why wait for decades (for each other)? Nobody knows if you two can be together in the next life.”
Gu Decheng nodded, and he couldn’t tell whether he was regretful or relieved, “What about your grandfather? Is there anything he’s worried about?”
“Actually, he went for reincarnation a long time ago,” Gu Ye couldn’t help laughing, “The one who appeared in your dream before was the little man I cut out of paper. My grandfather has gone a long time ago.”
Hearing that, Papa Gu was stunned for a moment, and immediately got angry, “You naughty kid!”
Feeling innocent, Gu Ye asked with his hands spread out, “What can I do? You don’t listen to anything I say back then!”
Gu Decheng was angry and wanted to hit the child, “You even dared to fake your grandfather’s appearance? If I don’t beat you up, I’ll be sorry to our ancestors!”
Gu Ye ran away, “Mom! My dad wants to hit me!”
Mrs. Gu felt uncomfortable today because she felt like an outsider. She also knew that the whole family treated her well, but she couldn’t help feeling this way. When she heard what Gu Ye said, she didn’t care about the awkwardness, and rushed up to stop her husband, “Gu Decheng! It’s New Year’s Day, why are you hitting the child again?”
Mother Gu was very fierce in protecting her child that Gu Decheng paused and his momentum weakened instantly. “I didn’t hit him, I just tried to scare him.”
“My mother is so pretty!” Gu Ye praised gratefully and took the opportunity to slip away.
Seeing that, Gu Decheng gave an angry chuckle. He had no way to deal with Gu Ye.
After returning to the room, Gu Ye took out the statue of the King of Hell and the tablet of his master that he had forgotten in the luggage bag. He took a plate of raw chicken from the kitchen and placed it on the table. “I’m sorry, I was too busy. I’m offering you the tribute now. Please bless me and don’t let me encounter so many strange things again. For the offering, you need both meat and vegetables, right? Please wait for a moment.”
Not long after, Gu Ye came back with a grin on his face. He closed the door with a smile and put the half plate of fruit and melon seeds he had just eaten on the table. Gu Ye put his hands together and bowed, saying seriously, “It is said that sincerity works best, and a gift is not more valuable than a token of love. Eat it, and don’t be polite!”
After worshiping, Gu Ye sat at the table and continued to crack melon seeds. He turned on the TV in the bedroom and began to reply to today’s messages. That night, Gu Ye dreamed that his master had turned into a man in his fifties, wearing a very handsome suit. His master pulled his ears and scolded him as a little rascal, saying that he was not sincere in worshipping the gods.
Gu Ye rebuts with a tease, saying that the old man is dressed like a civil servant and looks so handsome. He asked if he was busy getting married or something? The remark angered the old man and he started chasing after Gu Ye to beat him. But Gu Ye ran very fast, and the old man chased him for a long time, unable to catch up with him.
Facts have proved that the master’s teachings should be listened to, and worshipping gods must be sincere, otherwise nothing good will happen. In the following year, Gu Ye still couldn’t avoid strange things.
On the 2nd day of the Chinese New Year, early in the morning, someone came to find Gu Ye. After hearing what his family told him, Gu Ye removed the offering plate from the King of Hell’s figure, “At the very least, you should wait until the 5th day of Chinese New Year (before letting weird things happen) but you just won’t allow it! Alright, no more offering for you.”
When he came downstairs, Gu Ye saw two people sitting stiffly on the sofa in the living room. On their face, there are signs that looked like they were about to die. “Yo, you guys came early.”
“We two brothers are really sorry to disturb the little immortal’s New Year. I’m the eldest brother, my name is Liu Sheng, and this is my fourth brother Liu Long.”
Liu Sheng was just 50 years old but his hair was already gray. He kept calling Gu Ye a little immortal, and he kept his attitude humble as he continued. “We really can’t live like this anymore. When we saw the note you left, we endured it until the Chinese New Year’s Eve and also the 1st day. Today, we were afraid that you would leave the village to return to the city so we came as soon as possible.”
Liu Long’s eyes were red. “Yesterday was the New Year’s Day. My brother and I brought back a row of memorial tablets, now placed at home. We really can’t live with it any longer.”
Gu Ye asked someone to serve tea to the two uncles, “Don’t worry, talk slowly.”
Liu Sheng said slowly, “It’s like this. In March last year, the four of us brothers pooled our money to buy that piece of vacant land to build a pig farm. But not long after the farm was built, before it opened, something happened at home.
First, my wife got cancer. When she was diagnosed, it was already in the late stage. She died in 2 months. She was in good health before and could do farm work in the fields. But she was gone just like that.”
At this point, Liu Sheng’s eyes were red, “She was only 45 years old.”
Liu Long took over his elder brother’s words and continued, “When my elder sister-in-law was in the hospital, it was the time for wheat harvest. My second elder brother had a combine harvester. When harvesting wheat, the machine broke down so he went down to check it. The harvester, which had been turned off, suddenly slid forward and he was completely sucked into the harvester. When he was rescued, his entire back was stripped off and bloodied. He was sent to the ambulance like a blood-soaked person. It was fortunate that the engine was turned off, otherwise he would have died. Until now, he is still recovering at my nephew’s place and has not returned.”
“Then, it was my 3rd brother. He had a little high blood pressure and drank a little wine at night. Normally, there was nothing wrong with that amount. However, he went to the toilet in the early morning and suddenly had a cerebral hemorrhage. When my sister-in-law found him, he was already stiff.”
“My wife died 2 months ago.” Liu Long said dejectedly, “She had the same disease as my sister-in-law. She was diagnosed with advanced cancer. She was 38 years old this year.”
“People in the village gossiped that my family did something immoral, so we got retribution.”
The two brothers looked bitter, “We are honest farmers, how could we do something immoral?”
Gu Ye nodded and comforted, “You didn’t do anything immoral, I can see that you are all honest and decent. To build this pig farm, did you spend all your hard-earned money?”
“Yes, we even took a loan.” Speaking of this, the two brothers were worried, “Now we want to sell the farm to pay off the loan, but we can’t sell it.”
“Don’t rush to sell it,” Gu Ye asked, “Have people in their forties or fifties died in the village?”
“Now that you mention it, there are deaths,” Liu Sheng thought for a while, “A few days ago, someone had a sudden myocardial infarction and died. He was in his forties. Another one was in the late stage of cancer. He was just 50.”
Hearing that, Gu Ye’s eyes darkened. When he looked up, he found that there was a row of people standing in the corridor on the second floor, all with their heads down listening to gossip. Because they had never heard of it before, it was somewhat new to them. Now looking at the two brothers, they all looked sympathetic.
Gu Ye’s mouth twitched, and he called Gu Yang, “Go get me some paper and pen.”
Gu Yang ran over happily and soon brought down an unfinished test paper.
Gu Ye raised his eyebrows at Gu Yang as if to ask, are you serious?
Gu Yang smiled ingratiatingly, he wasn’t going to do it anyway.
Turning the test paper over, Gu Ye drew a picture on the blank side, “Look, does the location of your pig farm look like a guillotine?”
Both brothers’ breath hitched, “It really looks like one!”
“Building an establishment here and erecting such a high flagpole here, what’s the difference between it and a guillotine? It’s terrible to erect this flagpole here, who gave you the idea?”
After Gu Ye asked the question, the expression on the brothers’ faces changed, “At first, we didn’t have a flagpole there but our family already had problems. So we asked around and found a Taoist priest, who said there was an evil spirit here and we had to erect a flagpole to suppress it, so we erected it.”
Gu Ye sneered, “This Taoist priest is not a decent person. The location was problematic to begin with, but it was not to the point where someone died so quickly. Once the flagpole was erected, the feng shui of the surrounding area changed completely. Where did you find that Taoist priest?”
“He is from Zao Village next door. He came to the town half a year ago. He can tell fortunes and can help with weddings and funerals. People in the town were saying something like a little immortal (GY) has left but a half-immortal has come instead.”
Gu Ye sneered, how can this level of Feng Shui reading be considered a half-immortal? If this was done intentionally, then it is considered using Feng Shui to maliciously kill people, which would be a big deal.
“You two go back now and find someone to dig up the flagpole. I suspect there is something buried under it.” Gu Ye stood up, “You guys go first, I’ll be there soon.”
Gu Yang finally got smart and swiftly got Gu Ye a down jacket, and followed him happily, “I’m going too!”
Gu Lin had a bunch of car keys hanging on his fingers, and he spun around with a smile, “I’m going too.”
Gu Ye: “…”
Raw word count: 4060 (whole chapter)
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