Chapter 13: The Towel

This towel… why did it look so familiar?

Liu Yumei thought back—wasn’t this the same towel that the Li family boy had slung over his shoulder earlier today?

“What’s going on here?”

She reached to take it down but stopped just short of touching it.

She turned her head toward the inner room. At the doorway stood the silhouette of a girl.

“Ali, didn’t you already go to bed? Why are you up again?”

The girl didn’t speak.

“Ali, did you put this towel here?”

Still no answer.

“Ali, this is the altar space, the most sacred place of offering. You can’t just leave things here. The towel belongs somewhere else. How about Grandma washes it clean for you and puts it back properly?”

The girl’s eyelashes began to flutter.

“All right, leave it then, leave it. It’s fine here, yes, it’s just fine.”

The girl calmed down.

“Ali, go back to bed now. Grandma won’t move it, I promise. When you wake up tomorrow, it’ll still be here.”

The girl turned and went back inside.

Liu Yumei sighed, but then a smile crept onto her face. She’d noticed something just now—when Ali started to get upset, her eyelids only twitched a little, her body didn’t shake this time. That was progress.

Over the years, they’d been doing everything they could to avoid Ali having episodes. It wasn’t just that her rage states could harm herself and others—every time she broke down, her condition worsened.

Right now, treating Ali’s illness was the most important thing. Everything else was secondary.

Liu Yumei finally found her husband’s spirit tablet behind the ones of her two older brothers.

“You’ve been wronged, haven’t you? Had to make do between my two brothers. You didn’t fight, did you?”

Back then, the old fool had shamelessly chased after her, and her brothers didn’t hold back in giving him a beating. Even after they were married, every time he drank with them, it always ended in shouting matches that nearly turned into brawls.

The only difference was, before marriage, her brothers would pick fights with him. After marriage, he was the one egging them on while drunkenly shouting:

“Come on, hit me! If you’ve got the guts, kill me! If I die, your sister’ll have to stay a widow for me!”

Her brothers had gnashed their teeth in frustration, cursing her for being blind enough to fall for his tricks.

Honestly though, aside from being a bit petty and vengeful, the old fool had treated her very well.

She gently wiped his spirit tablet with a handkerchief. “Old fool, your granddaughter wants to put something here, so just make some room for her, will you?”

With that, Liu Yumei shifted the tablet slightly, placing her husband’s next to her father’s.

“Have a good chat with my dad, will you? A son-in-law’s half a son, after all.”

The grimy towel sat right in the center, a bit of an eyesore, but Liu Yumei’s voice still held cheer.

“Don’t get upset with Ali. She ended up like this all because of you lot, didn’t she? Who told you all to die so boldly and cleanly back then, not even leaving a shred of spiritual protection for your descendants?

“That Li family boy, his name’s Li Zhuiyuan. Has a nice ring to it. He’s an interesting one, too—just way too precocious.

“I’ve seen plenty of smart kids, but none quite like him. He gives me the impression—apart from some lingering childishness—that he’s trying hard to act like a kid.

“Such a shame. Kids like that never live long.

“Then again, maybe not. He’s living with Li Sanjiang now, and he’s kin. Sharing in that good fortune should be much simpler for him than it was for us.

“But none of that matters anymore.

“I just hope he can help our Ali get better, bit by bit. She’s suffered too much, endured too much—things she never should’ve had to.

“You all shouted about a ‘new world’ when you drowned yourselves.

“But the world’s too big, and I’m just a soft-hearted woman. I can’t care about that. All I care about is my granddaughter. I just want her to laugh like other little girls, to speak freely and with confidence.

“If your spirits are watching over us…”

Here, Liu Yumei couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the tablets, her tone shifting to resentment.

“If any of you had the sense to follow the old customs and leave a trace of spirit behind, would my granddaughter be like this now?”

…

After his bath, Li Zhuiyuan fetched another towel, scrubbed it clean with soap, and hung it on the clothesline.

Passing by Li Sanjiang’s bedroom, he hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open.

On the bed, Li Sanjiang was lying back with a cigarette between his fingers, legs crossed, humming a tune while trying to doze off.

“Great-Grandpa, there’s something I thought over and still feel I should tell you.”

“Oh? What is it? Go ahead.”

“Last night, Niu Fu’s mother came to our house. She used the first-floor tableware and paper effigies to throw herself a birthday banquet. It was lively. I got pulled in too.”

Li Sanjiang’s brow furrowed. He instinctively sat up straighter. “Keep going.”

“Toward the end of the banquet, a zombie showed up. It fought with Niu Fu’s mother. She couldn’t beat it, and in the final moment, she sent me away.”

“She sent you away? Where to?”

“I woke up.”

“Oh.” Li Sanjiang nodded. Thinking of how he’d been chased by zombies in his dream, he understood. The kid must’ve had a dream like his own. He comforted him, “Little Yuanhou, just take it as a dream. Don’t worry—nothing’s going to happen tonight.”

No need for a Transference Array for Calamity tonight. He could sleep in peace.

“But, Great-Grandpa…”

“It’s all right. Don’t let it get to you. I understand everything.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. Of course, Great-Grandpa understood.

“Great-Grandpa, one more thing. Have you noticed Granny Liu and her family working here for you?”

“Of course I noticed ages ago, ha ha.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded again. Of course, Great-Grandpa knew.

Li Sanjiang chuckled inwardly: That family farmed for him, crafted paper effigies, delivered tableware for funerals, cooked, cleaned… and asked for barely any pay.

Heh. If that’s not mental deficiency, what is?

These days, it’s hard to find long-term helpers who work like oxen and ask for peanuts. Gotta cherish them.

“Anything else, Little Yuanhou? If not, head to bed. I’m getting sleepy too.”

“One last thing. Actually, I’ve been tutoring Yingzi. She’s not the one helping me—her comprehension’s a bit poor and she learns slowly.”

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that after he said this, Li Sanjiang’s lips pressed tight, cheeks puffing like he was struggling to hold something back.

Ten seconds of silence.

Then—

“Pwahahaha!”

Li Sanjiang laughed so hard he tugged at an old wound, gasping from the pain, but still managed to laugh-scold:

“You little rascal! If you don’t want to study, just say so. Don’t make up lame excuses like that! You think your Great-Grandpa’s a fool?

“All right, enough nonsense. Go to bed. Yinghou’s definitely coming tomorrow. No matter how much you play, you won’t escape studying!”

“Good night, Great-Grandpa.”

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t argue. Even Great-Grandpa couldn’t know everything. It was normal to be wrong sometimes.

Back in his room, he lay in bed, pulled the covers up, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

He slept soundly that night, without a single dream.

Just before dawn, he woke up. Sitting by the bed, he realized this sleep hadn’t been nearly as restful as the dream-filled ones.

He got up, grabbed his basin to wash up. But when he opened the door—

A girl was standing there.

It was Qin Li.

She had styled her hair today, with a wooden hairpin holding it up. A white blouse on top, black riding skirt below. Elegant and poised.

Beautiful people needed beautiful clothes to truly shine.

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