Published at 22nd of November 2020 07:44:11 PM
Chapter 97
Translator: RandomAlex
Editor: Makoto
When the old woman on the bed heard Wei Mingyan’s remarks, her eyes burst out with great hope. Her cloudy eyes actually looked brighter than those of young people.
“It can’t be demolished, Village Chief, did you hear that? He, Qiu Wu, is neither the owner of this mountain nor has he paid me, so it can’t be demolished!!!”
After saying this, Grandma Xuan coughed and collapsed into a stupor.
Her life has been too hard, and the successive deaths of her family members were like boulders crashing on her heart, making the rest of her life difficult for her to show her face many times.
Going up to the mountains every day to take care of the fields, and stop by to see loved ones who have passed away, has been the only way for this elderly woman to relax.
She had no education. She grew up in bitterness since she was a child. She didn’t even know that the so-called reincarnation of ghosts was mere feudal superstition, and she was only pushing forward through sheer will.
Now that she knew the graves couldn’t be torn down, she relaxed, and drifted off to sleep.
Xuan Lele nervously tested her nose for breath. She was relieved when she felt a little weak breath. Then, she couldn’t stop the tears that she had been trying to suppress from falling.
She looked at the Village Chief and cried with anger. “My Dad fell into the river because Qiu Wu cut a hole there and didn’t fence it off. Now my parents have died for so many years, and he still wouldn’t let them go!”
“Do we have to be forced to die for them to feel comfortable! If something goes wrong with my Grandma, I will not let them go!”
Though her voice quivered when her last words came out, Xuan Lele was clearly lit with anger. She gently put down the old woman’s hand, stood up and walked out.
“Lele, Lele …”
The Village Chief hurriedly went to stop her. “Don’t go there, there’s a crowd of them. You’re a little girl’s …”
“So, it’s okay to bully in numbers?!! Haven’t they bullied me enough since I was a child!”
Xuan Lele was really a good-natured and soft-tempered person. But this time, they really touched her bottom line.
Her grandma always said that the living should live well, so she shouldn’t remember hatred, but never trap yourself.
But even now, those people still wouldn’t let them go.
“Lele!”
As this pleasant male voice resounded next to her, her brain went blank, stunned by the sensation of someone’s body enveloping her. The man’s gentle voice whispered in her ear. “You be good and take good care of Grandma first. I’ll take care of it.”
“Trust me, okay?”
Hearing his words, Xuan Lele recovered herself from the depths of her anger. She sobbed as she grabbed the man’s hand, “Mingyan, Mingyan…”
She had so many things she wanted to say, but the words turned into aggravated cries of her lover’s name.
This was the first time Xuan Lele had been so dependent on someone. When she was young, she knew that she and her grandmother were codependent, so she had to take care of her.
She was used to taking care of people. However, this was the first time someone told her to let him handle everything.
She was gently pressed down on the edge of the bed to sit. Wei Mingyan touched her head and whispered, “You should have a good rest first. I’ll go out and ask the Village Chief some questions. Be good. Right now, we are in a society ruled by law. If they really forcibly demolish the graves, we will sue them.”
He was actually speaking to the Village Chief. Sure enough, the Village Chief’s expression changed as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t dare to.
When Wei Mingyan came out of the low-rise house, he dropped his gentleness and looked at the old man who was bent over slightly because of his age. “Village Chief, please tell me the situation, so that I can decide whether to sue this Qiu Wu.”
“All of them are villagers, if you really put Qiu Wu in jail for this, the Xuan family won’t do well in the village…”
The Village Chief, obviously trying to put the matter to rest, rubbed his hands as he squeezed out this sentence.
“But I see that right now, don’t the Xuan family already have very little standing in the village? Digging graves ah! Village Chief, if this wasn’t some life and death feud, there really wouldn’t be anyone who could do such a thing.”
Wei Mingyan’s attitude towards the Village Chief wasn’t as gentle as toward his lover, as expected. After all, anyone who saw his girlfriend being bullied wouldn’t look much better.
Seeing that he looked as if he was going to pursue the matter to the end, the Village Chief sighed and told him all about it.
Originally, the reason why Father Xuan fell into the river was because Qiu Wu chiseled ice for fishing. At that time, the weather was cold, and the chiseled place would condense a layer of ice after one night, which looked no different from the surroundings, but the weight of a person stepping on it was enough to break it.
They called it a river, but it’s just like a reservoir, except that people were used to calling it by that name. When it is covered with ice, it is thick enough that kids can even play on it.
There was an unwritten rule in the village, that is, If ice was cut, there should be something around it to indicate that the area has been chiseled and that it was dangerous, so people should avoid it.
There were some rocks right on the edge, but that Qiu Wu thought it was too troublesome at that time, and that the weather was too cold, so thinking that all the parents had collected their children and refused to let them out, he didn’t mark it.
It turned out to be such a coincidence that Father Xuan stepped on that ice, which was already fragile around it, and fell right in.
At that time, Qiu Wu was among the people watching. He was also the best swimmer in the village besides Father Xuan. He also saw the whole thing from beginning to end without even handing down a rod.
After the death of the Xuan couple, someone soon said he saw Qiu Wu chiseling ice and fishing there, but because he denied it to death, and because Grandma Xuan was too shocked, the incident was gradually forgotten by the villagers.
The first time it was brought up later was when Qiu Wu was chopping down a tree by the river, and the tree came down and broke his leg. Later, although he was nursed back to health, he always limped.
A rumor then spread in the village that Father Xuan, who was killed by him in the first place, was unwilling and came to seek revenge on him.
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Even though it had been 5 years since the incident, no one cared why revenge had to wait 5 years. Qiu Wu even felt guilty at that time and didn’t dare say anything.
Later, his eldest son fell into the river and died, and another rumor spread in the village. Qiu Wu, who had lost his child, went to Grandma Xuan’s house to make trouble. At that time, Xuan Lele went to school in the town. Grandma Xuan calmly called the police and scared the people away.
This time, it was because his youngest son skipped class and went swimming with his classmates but almost drowned, though he was rescued. Qiu Wu then had a guilty conscience and paid a Master to try to resolve it.
As a result, the Master received the money, did a quick ceremony, and said everything was now fine. But Qiu Wu didn’t believe it.
He had a nightmare that night, dreaming that the Xuan husband and wife came to him for revenge, and scared him shitless, so he went to see the Master again.
The Master calculated it, pointing to the Xuan family’s husband and wife’s grave and said, if you are still unsure, move the graves.
He meant to say that Qiu Wu himself was guilty and would think nonsense when he looked at the Xuan family’s grave day after day. But Qiu Wu made up his mind that the graves were facing his own family, and those two people were watching him day and night, waiting to harm him!
When he went back to the village, he saw that other people didn’t believe it, so he said, “At the beginning, everyone watched them die. If they take revenge, they wouldn’t just look for me.”
Although some people felt that they were just watching the excitement and nothing else, they couldn’t resist their guilty conscience. Soon, this group of people decided to demolish the graves, and they didn’t forget to inform Grandma Xuan. Of course, no one could complain when their bones were dug up and how they were buried, where they were buried and who was going to bury them.
“How could their graves face Qiu Wu’s family? That mountain is the mountain where the dead of the village have always been buried, and everyone’s tomb is on it. Even Qiu Wu’s eldest son is on it. If it’s true, as he said, the ancestors of the whole village are looking at him.”
The Village Chief sighed again, his expression was full of exhaustion. He was old, so he only wanted peace and harmony between everyone, but this time, they were really bullying people too much.
It’s always been rumored in their village that when a person dies and is buried, you can’t move the grave, or the soul will just go up in smoke and dust, never to be reincarnated again.
The old man especially believed this, and the Village Chief strongly opposed it this time, but those people didn’t listen to him at all. The old lady of Xuan’s family fainted at that time, so he brought the person back.
Wei Mingyan listened, tapping the door frame on one side with his hand, his eyes thoughtful.
“Village Chief, I want to trouble you with one thing…”
“They have harmed my family for so long. Now, if my family falls, other people in the village would certainly not be able to hide. They killed my son. This is a fierce ghost!”
The dark, skinny middle-aged man with bare shoulders sputtered excitedly in the middle of the yard. “What are you afraid of? The law won’t punish us all. We are a group of people together! Would the police then arrest our whole village? Last time a truck fell down, and we went up to grab the chickens. Didn’t we end up okay!?”
Qiu Wu’s wife also said so.
“Yeah, now it’s my son that’s in danger, and later it could be your child. Old San’s, didn’t your child just drown three years ago? Aren’t you afraid something will happen to the newborn at home too?”
The one named was also a middle-aged woman, who held her infant in her arms tightly, said hesitantly, “But my child is out of town…”
“So what, it’s a fierce ghost! I remember you were watching them drown in excitement. The Xuan family might have held a grudge against you.”
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“If you don’t move them today, our own lives wouldn’t be saved tomorrow!”
“What time is it now? How can someone not reincarnate when their graves are moved? It’s all feudal superstition! Isn’t the country saying that we can’t believe these feudal superstitions!”
The expressions of the group gradually agreed, and their hearts that had timidly dropped because the Old Lady of the Xuan family had fainted from the anger, was firm again.
Yeah, they’re doing it for their own children anyway.
Besides, what’s the matter? Isn’t there Qiu Wu keeping watch?
Just when they were ready to go digging the graves without the consent of the Village Chief and the Xuan family, there was a cough from the Village Chief behind them.
Qiu Wu’s expression cooled down. “Village Chief, don’t say anything. When we get killed, will you help us collect our bodies!?”
“Shut up!”
The Village Chief snapped at him, coughed again, and introduced to the villagers standing opposite. “This is Mr. Wei. This time, he came to buy the mountain.”
Just standing not far away, Wei Mingyan’s eyes, which had heard Qiu Wu’s words clearly, cooled down, and his expression was faint, putting on a high and cold front.
“Although the mountain belongs to the country, according to the regulations, I still have to give proper compensation to the villagers. According to the calculation, because there are few villagers, each household should get 20,000 yuan.”
“20,000!!!”
“So much!!!”
The expressions of the village people who had just looked puzzled changed. Their side was famous for its poor countryside, plus, the crops also grew poorly. They didn’t wouldn;t even earn 20,000 a year.
Everyone got excited, including the Qiu Wu couple who had just been encouraging everyone.
“Village Chief, when can this money be sent to us?”
“Boss, are you only buying one mountain? We have a lot of mountains here.”
Wei Mingyan looked at the greedy faces in front of him, and his lips slightly evoked.
“I’ve scouted that mountain, and there’s a grave blocking the way, which needs to be moved.”
The Village Chief also coughed. “Qiu Wu, your child’s grave is in the way. Aren’t we now here to negotiate with you? Mr. Wei is willing to give you an extra 10,000 for moving the grave.”
“When this matter has been resolved, then the mountain can be bought and paid for.”
Wei Mingyan’s eyes fell on the faces of the instantly pale-faced Qiu Wu couple and smiled gently. “I just heard that you two don’t believe in feudal superstitions. That’s fine. I don’t either, so you shouldn’t mind moving the graves, right?”
“No way!!!”
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Qiu Wu completely lost his excitement and shouted angrily. “That’s my son’s grave. If he moves, he can’t be reborn!”
“Yes!! Absolutely not! Even if you give us 100 thousand, you can’t move it!”
“If you dare to move my son’s grave, I will die here!”
The couple looked at Wei Mingyan’s blank face, wary, as if he was about to bite off a piece of their flesh.
The village people just looked at this fine skinned, young master from the big city and stepped back in fear.
“Village Chief, I think we should forget it, since your village doesn’t agree with me to buy the mountain, so I’ll go buy from the village next door.”
Seeing that the 20,000 yuan that was coming soon flew away, the excitement of the villagers disappeared.
“Boss, don’t ah… we all agree, just don’t worry about Qiu Wu, just move it.”
“Yes, Boss, we all agree. Is this 20,000 yuan in cash?”
“Village Chief, you quickly talk to the boss.”
They talked noisily, and Wei Mingyan’s face showed some hesitation. “In fact, if the mountain purchase is successful, because it’s a graveyard, I will give 5,000 yuan to each household. Of course, only that one will be moved.”
5,000 yuan! That adds up to 25,000!
The smile on the villagers’ faces didn’t stop for a second, and they listened to the young boss say, “But I won’t buy it without moving that grave.”
“Won’t move! You hurry and get out of our village. We said we wouldn’t move anything!”
His voice just fell and Qiu Wu’s wife’s sharp voice rang.
For an instant, she only felt cold, and turned to see that the villagers were staring at her. Everyone’s eyes were full of hatred and disgust.
“Didn’t you say no such thing as superstition? Don’t be superstitious, so what if you move the grave! Don’t worry, your child might have been reborn long ago.”
“Didn’t you also make a scene before about moving the Xuan family’s grave? It’s just a change of plans anyway, so we’ll move it for you.”
“25,000 is not a small amount. Aren’t you blocking us all from getting rich!?”
“I say Old Qiu. That’s not very nice of you.”
Wei Mingyan looked condescendingly at the couple who were now besieged by the village people, looking pale and still insisting on gritting their teeth and refusing to move the graves. He then sneered, raising his voice, “I’m staying at the Village Chief’s tonight. If your village hasn’t discussed a draft agreement tomorrow, I’ll buy the one next door.”
Someone immediately responded to him, “Don’t worry Boss, we’ll definitely move the grave.”
As for Qiu Wu’s desperate “We won’t move!”, the villagers who had just joined in a united front with them earlier just ignored them.