Chapter 13.3: The Towel

The girl said nothing. She crossed the courtyard, went upstairs, and sat in the northeast corner, waiting for Li Zhuiyuan to finish up and come read with her.

Although Liu Yumei was delighted to see her granddaughter’s improvement, once the initial joy wore off by the next day, a sourness slowly welled up in her chest.

She had painstakingly raised that little girl—yet now, the only one in her eyes was that Little Yuanhou.

Thankfully, they were both still young. No risk of anything untoward just yet.

But then again, if they were already like this as kids, what about when they grew older?

Good thing Little Yuanhou was heading back to Beijing after summer break.

But what if her granddaughter wasn’t cured by then? What if he left before she got better?

Stepping into the east room, Liu Yumei planned to light some incense to clear the air and settle her own scattered thoughts. Her gaze naturally drifted toward the memorial tablet table.

Then she stopped in her tracks and turned back to look again.

“What the…”

The place where her father’s memorial tablet had stood was now occupied by—

A salted duck egg with its shell cracked open.

…

The old man’s surname was Lu, given name Shan—Lu Shan from Xiting Town, also a Corpse Retriever of the village.

The boy was Lu Runsheng, a foundling picked up by Lu Shan at the riverside. Though only an adopted grandson, the age gap was so wide that Lu Shan had him call him Grandpa.

“Little Yuanhou, your great-grandpa and your Grandpa Shan, we had a life-and-death bond.”

Lu Shan gave a cold laugh. “Yeah, sure. I’d risk my neck every time while you just swept in for the payout.”

“Hey, that’s because I trusted your skills. Besides, that sort of job’s nothing for you—never even needed me to lift a finger.”

“You old bastard. The older you get, the thicker your skin.”

Some jobs were too complex for a single Corpse Retriever. That’s when they’d call on their trusted companions. Lu Shan was one such partner Li Sanjiang had worked with many times.

The two were as close as brothers. Any dangerous job, Li Sanjiang thought of him first.

Like this Deathday Rite for the Niu family.

Li Zhuiyuan could tell that Grandpa Shan harbored deep resentment toward his great-grandfather. But that wasn’t unusual. One look at Grandpa Shan and Runsheng’s clothes said enough—they were clearly struggling, while his great-grandfather’s household… probably ate better than the village chief’s.

Same trade, worlds apart. Of course there’d be bitterness.

Aunt Liu brought out the dishes. There wasn’t much time, so she’d only managed to whip up two: stir-fried sausage with garlic scapes, and braised eggplant with salted pork. Big portions, heavy on the meat.

The freshly steamed rice came in an aluminum basin, still steaming hot.

Runsheng started swallowing involuntarily at the sight of the meat.

What surprised Li Zhuiyuan was that Aunt Liu also brought over a bunch of incense sticks.

“Sis, bring me another rice bowl.”

“Oh right, I forgot.”

Clearly, this wasn’t their first time visiting Great-Grandpa’s place. Aunt Liu had hosted them before.

She brought another big bowl. Grandpa Shan scooped in some rice, then heaped vegetables and meat on top.

Then he lit the incense and stuck them into both the rice and the dishes.

Only after that did he start wolfing down his food.

Li Sanjiang took out some baijiu and poured Grandpa Shan a shot. He’d gulp one down between bites, then knock on the table, signaling for a refill.

Runsheng just sat there, watching the incense burn, not touching his chopsticks.

Even though he was clearly starving. Eager.

Aunt Liu brought out a bowl of tomato-egg-drop soup, heavily laced with vinegar.

Grandpa Shan picked it up and dumped it straight into his bowl, then kept eating.

Li Sanjiang pulled out a cigarette pack, handed one over, and lit up as he cursed, “Damn you. Starved yourself just to come eat here?”

Grandpa Shan just kept gulping, finally lifting the whole basin and slurping up the soup. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, picked up the cigarette, knocked it on the table, and said:

“Stopped eating the moment I got your message. Been hungry for almost three days.”

“If you starved yourself to death, we’d just roll you up in a mat and bury you. But the boy—he shouldn’t have to suffer like this. It’s a sin.”

Lighting up, Grandpa Shan said flatly, “I picked him up. He’s my burden. I already told Runsheng—when I die, he’ll come find you. He works for you, and you feed him.”

“Stop talking shit. I’m older than you. I’ll be gone before you.”

Grandpa Shan blew out a smoke ring, ran his tongue across his teeth, then spat under the table.

“Yeah, right. You’re like a plague—refuse to die. No way I’ll outlive you. Just talking about it feels like I’m tempting fate.”

Finally, the incense on the food burned out, leaving ash all over the dishes.

But Runsheng didn’t care. He pulled the aluminum basin in front of him and began to eat.

Li Zhuiyuan was puzzled, but didn’t want to ask outright.

Across from him, Grandpa Shan noticed and chuckled.

“Runshenghou once ate unclean meat. Now, he can’t stomach anything clean without incense. Even a bowl of cornmeal mush needs a stick.”

Then he leaned over toward Li Zhuiyuan and grinned teasingly.

“Little Yuanhou, do you know what unclean meat is?”

Li Zhuiyuan replied, “Corpse meat?”

Grandpa Shan froze. He hadn’t expected the kid to answer so calmly. He’d meant to scare him, leave it hanging. But now he was the one caught off guard.

Li Sanjiang scolded, “You old fart, what kind of crap are you telling the boy?”

Grandpa Shan pointed at Li Zhuiyuan. “Sanjiang, your great-grandson—he’s got potential. Built for our line of work.”

“Bullshit. My great-grandson’s going back to Beijing for college. No way he’s doing this crap.”

“Li Sanjiang, you’re the kind I hate most. You look down on the job but still rake in money from it. The gods must be blind not to send a Dead Sinker to drag you under.”

“Heh, not happy about it? Suck it up.”

“Great-Grandpa, I’m going to read.”

“Go on, go on.”

Li Zhuiyuan got up and headed upstairs. Morning sunlight streamed in, catching on Qin Li’s hair and skirt, making her look like a carved statue.

He pulled out his book, sat down, and said apologetically, “We had guests. I kept you waiting.”

Qin Li said nothing.

Li Zhuiyuan opened the book, ready to enjoy his morning reading.

He’d just finished the volume and was about to switch when Qin Li suddenly stood up and looked behind them.

Li Zhuiyuan followed her gaze—and saw Runsheng standing there, looking awkward.

He was only wearing a pair of shorts. Technically normal village attire for summer, when shirtless boys and men were everywhere.

But in front of a boy and girl like these two, it felt out of place.

Li Zhuiyuan’s clothes had been sent from Beijing. He wasn’t fashion-conscious, but still wasn’t used to going shirtless. As for Qin Li—no need to even mention it.

Though older than them, Runsheng was clearly torn between feeling inferior and wanting to join them.

Li Zhuiyuan took Qin Li’s hand. “Runsheng-ge is our guest. It’s okay.”

Hearing that, Qin Li stopped staring.

Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t surprised she’d noticed Runsheng. The girl seemed to see Unclean things, and the way Runsheng had eaten just now… If there’d been nothing strange about him, that would’ve been the real surprise.

“Runsheng-ge, we’re just reading. Come sit with us.”

“Ah… Is that okay?” He scratched his head with a sheepish smile.

Li Zhuiyuan walked over and took his wrist.

His skin was so cool.

It was midsummer, and he’d just eaten a big meal. He should’ve been sweating and warm. But he was dry. Cool and moist.

Runsheng followed him over and sat down on a little stool.

Qin Li’s lashes began to tremble. Her body started to shake.

Li Zhuiyuan gripped her hand again, hoping it would calm her. If not, he’d have to ask Runsheng to sit farther away.

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