"As we go a thousand songs drift along; a thousand songs light up tonight."
"You're singing it wrong," Leizi laughed, "That's not how you sing it."
Panzi scoffed, "Hmph, if you know how to sing it, go ahead!"
Leizi mumbled, scratching his head, "I only remember the tune."
The boatman, Li Weihan, asked, "What are you singing about? I can't understand it."
Panzi replied, "Sir, it's what Little Huang Ying sang yesterday, it's called a Yue Opera."
"Yue Opera?" Li Weihan was a bit puzzled, "Was that just now Yue Opera?"
Leizi, "No, grandpa, it's in fact Cantonese opera, from Guangdong and Hong Kong."
"Oh, I see, you all should sing it properly for me to hear."
Leizi, "Panzi definitely can't sing, can't even remember the lyrics, nowhere near as good as Little Huang Ying yesterday."
*Actually, Little Huang Ying's singing wasn't very standard either, but for the mainland nowadays, there's not much difference between standard and nonstandard, since most people can't understand it. What's important is the confidence with which it's sung.*
Panzi pointed at Li Zhiyuan and said, "Little Huang Ying was singing yesterday, I saw Yuanzi singing along, he can do it."
Li Weihan, "Little Yuanhou, sing it for me."
Li Zhiyuan felt quite embarrassed, "I can only sing just a little bit of it."
"Go on, sing," Leizi urged, "Yuanzi can even sing English songs."
Li Zhiyuan had no choice but to start singing,
"Even if tomorrow a thousand songs float far away on my road, even if tomorrow a thousand evening stars shine brighter than tonight's moon.
That's all I know; my mom likes this song and often plays it at home."
Leizi looked provocatively at Panzi, "Did you hear that? You sang the wrong lyrics."
Panzi gave Leizi a big eye roll.
Chatting all the way, the boat finally reached a wider part of the river.
Panzi went to help grandpa with the pole while Li Weihan started finding a spot to manage the nets, and Leizi set up his fishing rod.
Li Zhiyuan wasn't given a task, so he sat calmly with his little bamboo basket, sometimes watching his grandpa and brothers busy themselves, and sometimes watching the river's surface with its aquatic plants and the frogs jumping above.
*Watching the river, Li Zhiyuan leaned forward curiously.*
Li Weihan had been keeping an eye on his "grandson," and seeing this, immediately warned, "Little Yuanhou, sit back a bit, don't fall in!"
Li Zhiyuan pointed at the river ahead and asked, "Grandpa, brother, there's a cluster of black water grass there."
"Where?" Leizi looked in the direction Li Zhiyuan was pointing, "Hey, it really is, black-colored."
"Where is it, where is it?" Panzi, who was helping with the pole at the back of the boat, couldn't see clearly, so he eagerly maneuvered the boat closer.
Initially, Li Weihan didn't think much of it, busy loosening the nets. But when he heard Li Zhiyuan and Leizi still discussing it, he looked over, and that one glance made him freeze.
The black mass was fine yet pervasive, scattered yet inseparable—not aquatic grass, but human hair!
Now, because Panzi was persistently moving the boat closer, they approached that area enough that the underwater part was faintly visible—the black strands, white buttons, twisted lines...
Since Li Zhiyuan was seated, Leizi, standing beside him, was the first to see the underwater part and immediately shouted,
"Grandpa, that's a person, someone fell in, Panzi, row over quickly to save them!"
Stories of water ghosts couldn't scare these older kids anymore; their innate kindness made them instinctively think someone had fallen and needed rescue first.
Li Weihan suddenly roared. Usually a stern but kind grandfather, he rarely lost his composure, yet now his weathered skin flushed with tension. He immediately threw down his fishing net and moved to the back of the boat, shouting to Panzi,
"Turn around, turn around, give me the pole, don't go over there!"
Their boat had been in this place for a bit, and he hadn't heard any splashing before. The water there was utterly calm, not requiring rescue; whoever it was had long been dead!
Even if they encountered a drowned corpse, at most it'd feel unfortunate, hardly worth such panic.
Yet, Li Weihan knew he had to steer clear at once.
In this area, with its many riverways by the ocean, someone drowning wasn't uncommon, and every village or nearby village usually had a person who specialized in recovering bodies from the water.
This wasn't typically their main job, but the role was fixed due to its curse and many taboos. Without traditional skills passed down, one rarely reeled to do it.
Si Yuan Village had a Corpse Recovery Diver named Li Sanjiang, whom Li Weihan, by rank, called "uncle."
This Li Sanjiang had no children, didn't care to work his distributed field, instead renting it out for food and grain.
Still, he didn't live the destitute life of a lazy man; with paper crafting and body recovery making good money, his life was rather comfortable, enjoying drinks and meats often.
Earlier, to help marry off his four sons, Li Weihan rented and sowed Li Sanjiang's land, really owing him a debt. So, during times of recovery, he'd assist this family elder.
Although Li Sanjiang never allowed him to handle bodies on the boat, just helping with sacrificial setups onshore, he'd learned some tricks of the trade through experience.
In this line of black-market slang, floating bodies were called Corpse.
Usually, a drowning victim submerged for days rotted gradually and floated up, where male bodies typically floated face down, female bodies face up, due to pelvic differences.
Most floating Corpse processes were routine, returned ashore to families post-recovery, but during a drinking occasion, Li Sanjiang solemnly mentioned two exceptions he'd hesitant to recover.
One was a vortex, indicating a sinking zone nearby that might capsize the person and the boat if approached;
The second, Li Sanjiang's lips shivering, scalp tingling at mere sight...
Was those with only hair floating on the surface—bodies standing upright underwater!
Such were filled with overwhelming grudges, restless in death, seeking a live victim!
Li Weihan recalled Li Sanjiang's bloodshot look at the wine table sternly advising,
"Weihan, remember if you see such a Corpse on the water, forget all else, escape as fast as possible, or else you'll be taken!"
Thus, upon recognizing a standing Corpse, how could Li Weihan not be frightened, let alone having three grandkids onboard!
Still, a curious Panzi hadn't absorbed grandpa's commands. When grandpa snatched the pole, he stumbled, which pushed the pole deeper into the mud, causing a severe rightward tilt of the boat.
For experienced boatmen, such tilts were manageable. Leizi, standing on the edge, swiftly adjusted his balance. However, inexperienced Li Zhiyuan, seated, inertia spilt him over, "Splash," straight towards the Corpse side.
The river was crystal clear, with the sunlight that afternoon providing excellent underwater visibility.
Newly submerged, still flailing, Li Zhiyuan soon froze at the scene before him.
As Brother Lei had said, someone stood in the water, none less than Little Huang Ying, talked about at the table earlier!
Still dressed in her black cheongsam stage outfit, white button patterns, slit to the waist, with her red high heels.
The smooth water current gently wove her arms back and forth, her legs swayed lightly.
A feeling as if walking underwater.
She waved her hands, swayed her waist, exposed her legs, tiptoed, singing a song...
Even underwater, she portrayed the foxy airs women in the village admired and loathed.
"Even if tomorrow a thousand songs, drift far away on my road..."
By his ears, Little Huang Ying's imperfect Cantonese seemed to be heard again.
Alongside the singing,
Little Huang Ying slowly turned, gradually facing Li Zhiyuan.
Her long hair floated at an angle upwards, like a risen black umbrella, rouge thicker than yesterday, lips richer red.