Chapter 44.4: The Dream-like Realm

"Okay, Brother Yuanhou." Cuicui didn’t ask why—she simply nodded.

"Pfft… hehe." Tan Wenbin couldn’t help laughing. It was the first time he’d heard Li Zhuiyuan say something that actually fit his age.

Li Zhuiyuan ignored him and looked over at the boy—who, at that very moment, was also looking back at him.

The boy wore a look of grievance, the kind that comes from being ostracized. He was putting on a show for Cuicui, banking on her soft heart to bring her back to his side.

Cuicui did see it. She was soft-hearted, yes, but not in the way he hoped—there wasn’t a trace of intent in her to go back to him.

She was lonely, but she cherished her friends even more. If Brother Yuanhou didn’t want her playing with someone, then she simply wouldn’t.

Li Zhuiyuan caught the flash of venom in the boy’s eyes.

Heh. Disgusting.

At the same time, Li Zhuiyuan wondered—was he just as disgusting?

But he wasn’t the same. His biological age matched his appearance, and he acted to preserve his sense of self. He was just maintaining the image a boy his age should have.

The other one, though—Li Zhuiyuan guessed he had to be at least fifty.

A fifty-year-old man, pretending to be a child just to get close to a little girl—what was he really after?

"Waaah… waaaah…"

The boy squatted and began to cry.

But no one paid him any mind. On the dam, people listened to Li Zhuiyuan.

The boy stopped crying, stood up, and walked toward Li Zhuiyuan.

"Brother Runsheng."

"Hey!" Runsheng quickly stepped in, picked the boy up, and carried him away. Then he pointed a finger at him—a silent warning.

The boy didn’t dare cry anymore. He lowered his head and stood there.

After a while, the man came out. The resemblance between the two was striking—they looked like father and son.

Only, the roles needed to be reversed.

Liu Jinxia and Li Juxiang came out and saw the pair off the dam.

"Brother Binbin," Li Zhuiyuan pointed in the direction the pair had gone. "Follow them for a bit. Don't get spotted."

"Got it."

He didn’t know why, but Tan Wenbin followed without complaint. He had a knack for slipping into the atmosphere of a moment.

"Have a soda." Xianghou Auntie set down a crate on the dam.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Auntie Xianghou, why did they come here just now?"

"That man’s wife died a year ago. He wants to hold a small Deathday Rite for her—just asked me and Cuicui’s granny to help conduct it at their house."

A small Deathday Rite meant only a ritual, no banquet. Usually, just the family burning a few offerings.

"That’s weird. If they invited you two, why no banquet?"

"Probably doesn’t have the connections in the village. That man’s got a strange temper."

"What happened?"

"Cuicui’s granny asked a few details, and he couldn’t answer. Asked more and he started getting all pitiful, like he was about to cry. Grown man acting like that—tsk tsk."

"Auntie Xianghou, can you not go?"

"How could we not? We already took the money."

Tan Wenbin came back, frowning. "Xiaoyuan, guess what I just saw. They hadn’t gone far, and on the roadside, the dad handed the kid a cigarette and lit it for him."

"Oh." Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t surprised. "Did you catch anything they said?"

"Hard to get close. They came by tractor, parked it at the crossroads, then drove off."

Li Zhuiyuan stepped inside and pushed open a back room door. Liu Jinxia sat at a desk, pen in hand, scribbling.

"Little Yuanhou, what is it?"

He stepped up, glanced at the birth characters on the page, and jotted down a result with another pen.

Liu Jinxia squinted at it. "What are you writing?"

Clearly, she didn’t know the right answer—she’d always used her own method, accuracy secondary to the act of trying.

"Granny Liu, were they really father and son?"

"What else could they be? They look like they came out of the same mold. Shame about the kid, though—lost his mom young."

"Granny Liu, the man is the son. The boy is the father. He’s at least fifty. He’s a dwarf."

"A dwarf?"

"Someone who stays short."

"Oh… really?"

"Brother Binbin followed them and overheard them talking. The man called the boy ‘Dad,’ and the boy called him ‘my good son.’

"I didn’t believe it at first, but Binbin said he’d swear it on the heavens—they really said that."

"This…"

"So if their roles are reversed, then what’s this Deathday Rite really about?"

"Exactly."

"Granny Liu, better to play it safe. Don’t go. Give the money back."

Liu Jinxia nodded slowly, her face solemn.

"Alright."

It caught Li Zhuiyuan off guard—he wasn’t used to such easy agreement.

Maybe it was from spending too much time with his great-grandpa. He’d gotten used to nobody ever listening to reason.

"You really won’t go? You're not just humoring a kid?"

She opened a drawer, slapped the just-received cash on the desk, and snapped:

"If they lied about family ties, they clearly aren’t sincere about the rite. I’m not dragging Auntie Xianghou over there just to end up in some mess.

Only a fool would go!"

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt relieved.

"Little Yuanhou, thank you for telling me."

"Granny Liu, aren’t you going to ask Brother Binbin or someone in their village to check?"

"No need. In our line of work, smoothness and good omens matter most. Even if everything you said is fake, the fact that you came to me right after I took the job—fake or not… I still wouldn’t dare go.

I’ve got one shabby life, and I’m trying to stick around a few more years for Auntie Xianghou and Cuicui. I’m not like your great-grandpa—I don’t take risks."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. He agreed completely.

As he said goodbye to Cuicui and walked home, Li Zhuiyuan was in a great mood, lightly swinging her hand.

Soon, she joined in, swinging back with added force.

Tan Wenbin turned around and suggested, "Xiaoyuan, still early. I saw fishing rods in the house—want to go fishing?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Then me and Runsheng will go."

Runsheng: "I’m not going either."

"You’re just echoing Xiaoyuan. You’re like a shadow."

"I didn’t call him brother."

Tan Wenbin: "…"

When they got back, they saw Li Sanjiang sitting on the dam. He stood up and said to Runsheng, "Runsheng, the shop just called. We’ve got a job. Let’s go to Xiting Town for a Dead Sinker."

"Alright—huh? Didn’t my grandpa go?"

Runsheng’s family was in Xiting Town. Normally, his grandpa would just handle it.

"That’s what ticks me off. I just heard—last week your grandpa came home from a card game, went to a neighbor’s house to use the toilet, and fell into the manure pit. The neighbor heard the noise and fished him out.

He’s fine, but he broke a leg.

Embarrassed about it, the old fool kept it from us!"

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