Li Sanjiang interrupted Li Zhiyuan, covered his forehead with his hand, then placed his palm on his own forehead to compare the temperature, and wondered:
"Ouch, seems like you do have a bit of a fever, you’re talking nonsense."
"Grandmaster, what I’m saying is true. They came to drink with you to ask for your help with a Tai Sui problem at Old Jiang’s place in Shigang Town. If you don’t agree, they’ll come to trouble you again. You’d better be careful these days."
"Little Yuanhou, so what you’re saying is, that night the Grandmaster... was drinking with two..." Li Sanjiang suddenly lowered his voice, "was drinking with two dead people, and drank till midnight?"
"Sigh, it’s Grandmaster’s fault. I should not have told you about the dream I had yesterday. It gave you nightmares. What we think by day, we dream by night."
"I didn’t. Grandmaster, I’m telling the truth. I’ve prepared some useful things that can help you solve it..."
"Alright, alright, Grandmaster believes what you’re saying. Come on, after breakfast, the elder will take you to Zheng Datong for a temperature check and to get an injection."
Li Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Grandmaster, you weren’t even scared by the story I made up. You’re so cool."
"Hey, you small sparrow trying to scare me? If I was drinking with people until midnight, wouldn’t I know about it? Marquis Runsheng didn’t see it, only you did? Your story has too many holes; it’s not well thought out."
"Alright, next time I’ll make up a better one."
"Put more effort into your studies, and stop thinking about all this supernatural nonsense. Right, from tonight, Grandmaster will continue to change your luck."
Li Sanjiang patted the boy’s shoulder, no longer mentioning going to the clinic for an injection. Instead, he walked into the house, went upstairs, planning to catch up on some sleep during the day, to replenish his energy.
What if he dreams again tonight, having to lead the zombies in The Forbidden City to exercise?
Li Zhiyuan bowed his head, picked up the half-eaten salted duck egg, and while rotating it, he muttered to himself:
"It doesn’t make sense, why can’t I explain it?"
"That’s right, it doesn’t make sense."
That was Liu Yumei’s voice.
Li Zhiyuan stood up and walked over: "Grandma Liu, what did you just say?"
"The tea’s gone cold, brew another pot, use less tea leaves today, I’m feeling a bit bland."
Li Zhiyuan nodded and began to make the tea. He understood the meaning of Liu Yumei’s words. In this family, when speaking of certain special matters, one must taste but not devour, and cannot break the silence.
It was like playing a silent riddle with the other party knowing it.
Liu Yumei leaned back slightly in her chair, watching the boy, she said:
"Do you think sometimes your Grandmaster seems a bit silly? There are things he just can’t see, words he just won’t hear?"
"Child, it’s normal. When people get old, they get like that.
At your age, you’re full of youthful vigor, innately curious about new things. But as normal people reach middle age, they start to resist new things and naturally become conservative.
When they get old, most of them just follow one rule, which is to keep rolling like a hoop, rolling straight into the grave.
They become very obstinate, very stubborn. You tell them they’re wrong, they think you’re too young, you tell them they shouldn’t do this, but they’ve lived this way all their life.
Right or wrong doesn’t matter to them, living to an old age itself is the best proof, a skill. Do you understand?"
"Kind of, but I want to hear more."
"Heh." Liu Yumei picked up her teacup, took a sip, and asked, "Have you read ’Peach Blossom Temple’ by Tang Yin?"
"The last two lines."
"People laugh at me for being overly whimsical, I laugh at people for not seeing through me. Remember the tombs of the heroes at Wuling, with no wine, no flowers, they plow their fields."
"Yes, you laugh at him for not understanding, he laughs at you for not knowing how to live."
"Grandma Liu, do you mean that my Grandmaster is pretending to be deaf on purpose, not listening?"
"No, your Grandmaster is not as skilled at acting as you, young rascal."
"You’re joking, Grandma."
"What do you think of your Grandmaster?"
"Grandmaster has a lot of stories. Sometimes I think I understand him, but other times I find myself lost."
"You’re looking at it too complexly. Think of things simply, don’t get caught up in so many twists and turns."
"Grandma Liu, you’ve confused me again."
"Your Grandmaster is just your Grandmaster. There’s nothing special about him. The only difference from others is probably that he’s quite wealthy, no, he’s very wealthy."
"Very wealthy?" Li Zhiyuan began to ponder, what does "wealth" refer to here?
"A person, when they have too much money, tends to get arrogant, starts to think they know best, becomes less willing to listen.
But what can you do? He’s rich, isn’t he?
Sometimes, having money means you can do whatever you want, many things can be handled with money.
But buying influence with money is always something shady, sometimes even the person themselves doesn’t know where the money went, anyway, at some point the problem mystically gets solved, and they feel puzzled about how they got over the hurdle.
Those around him, after a few times, they get the picture and grit their teeth in hate.
Not real hate, it’s more like disliking but being helpless, and eventually, they become numb and accept it."
"Grandma Liu, if you live with a rich person, can you also pick up money and get rich?"