You can't even flirt or act capricious with him because he stands taller than you, always looking down at you from above.
Cold and devoid of human touch.
"Mom, how can you talk about a child like that? I think Little Yuanhou is really nice, polite, and well-behaved."
"That's because he's like that with everyone, just like his mother when she was young."
"Yes, his mother ended up divorcing too."
"You..." Li Juxiang was angry.
Liu Jinxia wasn't done yet. She exhaled smoke and continued, "People like them and their mother are only suited to be with someone who has no self and only sees them."
"Mom, I'll go find Uncle Sanjiang."
"Go ahead." Liu Jinxia waved her hand dismissively. "If Sanjiang is dragging his feet, ask him if he still wants Beijing to provide for his old age if he has indeed caused a problem for Beijing's beloved grandson."
Li Juxiang quickly threw out the dirty water in the basin, hopped on the tricycle, and set off, not wanting to hear any more from her own mother.
Liu Jinxia snuffed out her cigarette butt, yawned, and slowly walked toward the kitchen.
Both children had finished their meals, and Liu Jinxia watched as her usually pampered granddaughter eagerly started clearing the dishes and wiping down the table,
continuously saying, "Brother Yuanhou, put it down. I do these chores every day."
It even made Liu Jinxia laugh.
Perhaps because it was connected to his own end-of-life care, Li Sanjiang did not waste any time and arrived early on Li Juxiang's tricycle.
Liu Jinxia had Li Juxiang take the children upstairs to watch TV, then she brought Li Sanjiang into her office.
"Whoa, Liu the Blind, you've really tightened things up here." Li Sanjiang patted the towering stacks of wooden crates around. "To an outsider, it'd look like you just imported goods from Guangdong and are switching to wholesale business."
"No time to waste words with you."
Liu Jinxia told him everything that happened today, including the memorial for the Niu family.
Li Sanjiang widened his eyes in shock, "How could Little Yuanhou see that?"
Liu Jinxia took a deep breath, clenched her fist, but still managed to hold back her anger, retorted, "Are you asking me?"
Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette, tossed one to Liu Jinxia while he held one under his nose to smell and ponder.
Liu Jinxia picked up the cigarette, tapped its filter side against the table, and asked, "What the hell did you do last night!"
"You..." Liu Jinxia licked her lips, asked, "Big Beard and his son floated in the pond today, did you bring that corpse there?"
Li Sanjiang remained silent.
"How did you take it there?" Liu Jinxia continued to probe. Suddenly, she thought of a terrible possibility, and her volume increased as she cursed, "You damn old fool, you didn't have Little Yuanhou lead the corpse, did you?"
"Cough, cough..." Li Sanjiang cleared his throat, "Liu the Blind, lend me a light."
Liu Jinxia angrily threw a matchbox at him: "You really did that!"
Li Sanjiang averted his gaze and started smoking.
Liu Jinxia left her chair, walked around the table, and stood in front of Li Sanjiang, her spittle spraying onto the old man's face:
"Alive ones walk the path of the living, dead ones walk the Underworld, having Little Yuanhou lead the corpse means making him walk the Underworld, soiled by ghost energy, do you understand? He might already be tainted enough to 'walk the Underworld'."
"Walk the Underworld?" Li Sanjiang paused, then as if hearing a huge joke, laughed, "Ha ha, that's nonsense; such a thing can't just make someone capable of walking the Underworld!"
"Ha... Ha ha ha." Liu Xiazi let out a cold laugh.
Li Sanjiang now turned anxious and abruptly stood up: "If it were so easy to walk the Underworld, you, Liu the Blind, after decades in this business, wouldn't still need to perform these charlatan tricks!"
Walking the Underworld, in some places called "Touching the Blind" or "Descending to the Divine", refers to the ability to move from the realm of the living to that of the dead. Simply put, it means being able to see things not of the living realm.
People seek out Divine Women like Liu Xiazi because they create an image of being able to communicate with spirits, but unfortunately, 99% of such people don't have this ability; Liu Xiazi definitely doesn't.
Liu Jinxia regained her composure and said, "This young boy is smart and attentive."
Li Sanjiang swallowed, remembering the scene from last night when Little Yuanhou pointed at the river, asking, "Aren't we waiting for her?"
Li Sanjiang collapsed back into his chair, his expression uncertain; he suddenly realized that what Liu Jinxia said might be true.
"His real parents are in Beijing, he has a Beijing household registration, he's bright and capable in studies, a bright future almost guaranteed, yet you messed it up.
Not to mention the impact of always seeing those unclean things on his daily life, look at your lonely and isolated situation, having to carefully choose a reliable person for your own end-of-life care.
And me, well, let's not even start.
Anyone involved in this business will inevitably suffer deficiencies; you've committed a wrongdoing, was your mind muddled at the time?"
Li Sanjiang didn't retort, his brows creasing into a "川" shape.
Seeing his demeanor, Liu Jinxia stopped her sarcasm and tried to comfort him instead: "Luckily, the boy's condition isn't severe yet, I see him only vaguely sensing some unclean things, not truly capable of walking the Underworld. It can still be remedied, he can still be pulled back."
Li Sanjiang's eyes showed determination, "Then I'll cut it off for him!"
"How will you cut it off?"
"I'll talk to Beijing, asking him to have Little Yuanhou become a monk and stay with me for a while. I'll organize a ritual for him."