Chapter 17: The Eldest Sister-in-law Meets a Ghost

  The next day, I got up at more than 5 o'clock and ran home. My home is in Fushan Village, about two or three miles away from Yunhua High School. Normally, I live in school.

  Today is a special day, my dad and mom are coming back. Like most left-behind children in rural areas, I long for my parents every day, hoping to see their familiar figures on the deserted road. After my two elder sisters got married and my third sister went to college in Beijing, now I'm the only one left at home.

  When I was a kid, my dad would take me by the hand and buy me good food to eat. My mom would always tell me stories of Little White Rabbit and Snow White in my ear. Those days are unforgettable for me. Since last year, our village started a trend of going out to work. In those years, rural areas had almost no income, and farming all year round could hardly earn any money.

  Then, my parents also contacted a classmate in the south and went to work in a shoe factory in Shenzhen. They only come back during holidays or when something happens at home. This time they came back because my aunt was ill.

  My aunt also has three sons, but they are all university students and rarely at home. My aunt suffers from high blood pressure, and my uncle teaches at school, so most of the time, my aunt is alone at home. A few days ago, my aunt suddenly became unable to move and was sent to the hospital by kind-hearted villagers in our village. After examination, it was found that she had a cerebral hemorrhage and was already semi-comatose. She was rescued in the hospital for a day and night before her life was saved.

  These days, I heard that my aunt woke up, but the lower half of her body is basically paralyzed. My father has only one sister, so their feelings are deep. If it weren't for my uncle being afraid of affecting their work, he wouldn't have told him early, and probably my father would have come back that day.

  I made some porridge for myself, steamed a few buns, and stir-fried some green vegetables. I hastily ate my breakfast and sat at the door waiting for my parents to return. My second uncle told me last night that my parents would be back today, so I was too excited to sleep all night. This is the first time in a year that I've cooked at home; usually, I go to Wei Ge's house to eat with them, and sometimes I even buy some vegetables and meat to take over there, or help Wei Ge's parents with farm work.

  But today, I want to make this house a little warmer, so for the first time, I cooked a breakfast, comforting my nearly year-long miserable life. I'm foolishly fantasizing about the moment when my parents come home, and now my mind is filled with the familiar images of Dad and Mom.

  More than ten o'clock, a taxi stopped at the door, and my father wearing a military coat came down. At this time, it was already late autumn, and the rural weather was a bit cold. I wore the small cotton-padded jacket that my mother had sewn for me before she left, and my two small hands were frozen red, shrinking in my sleeves and trembling. As soon as my mother got out of the car, she hugged me, and then my father hugged me and my mother, and our whole family cried together.

  Thick kinship mixed with the pain of missing, my mother wore a black leather jacket, and there were more wrinkles around her face, but the warm smile and tears on her face could hardly conceal her thoughts of me. Even my father, who had been strict since I was young, burst into tears.

  My parents only started working outside last year, now the whole country is like this, the country has begun economic reform, and the way out for farmers is to work and do business. We hugged each other tightly for over ten minutes, my mother stroked my face, and kissed me. My father patted my shoulder, smiled and said: "Good boy, you've grown up!"

  My parents carried big and small bags, with meat and vegetables bought in the town, as well as some high-end nutritional products. I knew this was for my aunt. My aunt has been good to me since I was a child, treating me like her own son. Now that she's ill, I'm also heartbroken.

  These days, Zhenzhen and Ahfan both returned to the place with heavy yin energy to recover from their injuries. My house doesn't have any evil spirits, so when Mom came home, she cleaned up the house a bit, then started picking vegetables and cutting meat. Dad helped start the fire, they wanted to make me a delicious big meal, after eating our fill, our whole family went together to visit Big Aunt.

  I was overjoyed to tell my brother Wei that our parents were back. We had originally planned to go bird hunting in the hills behind our house today, but all of that didn't matter anymore. The hills are called Guishan and are located just across from Fushan Mountain, where birds and beasts roam in abundance, making it a great place for hunting.

  However, the opposite Fushan is quite quiet, with green mountains and clear water, but there is not a single blade of grass, only stones and pine trees. On Fushan Mountain, there is a temple dedicated to the Three Goddesses, also known as the mother of Erlang Shen Yang Jiajiang. Every year, there is a grand temple fair in the local area, where people come to pray for blessings and peace. The disorderly burial mound behind Yunhua High School is at the foot of Guishan Mountain, and my hometown is on Fushan Mountain.

  We had a delicious dinner together as a family, my mom's cooking is still so good, braised pork ribs, stir-fried meat strips, tomato scrambled eggs, roasted eggplant, fish-flavored meat strips, I ate until my stomach was full. My dad also bought beer and he and I both drank quite a bit. During the meal, my father asked about my studies, I proudly told him that I had made progress again. He then promised me that this time when we go to the county town to visit my aunt, he will buy me the latest Nokia mobile phone.

  We are a family of three, taking the bus to the provincial city, after a long transfer, we finally found the place where my aunt was hospitalized under the remote command of my uncle. It's called remote command because my uncle held the mobile phone and called my father, and my father also held the mobile phone and led us along the route told by my uncle.

  Due to the prosperity of the provincial city and the newly repaired main roads, we took a long time to find the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. In the ward of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, I saw my frail and wheelchair-bound aunt. At that moment, my father knelt down.

  My tears also fell down with a plop, and my mother covered her mouth to cry. Later, it was Tian Meng, the younger daughter of my aunt, who pulled us up. Tian Meng is five years older than me, she just got married, and before that, she always took care of my aunt. Unexpectedly, after she got married, my aunt fell seriously ill because no one took care of her, and Tian Meng's tears couldn't stop either, with a heart full of guilt.

  My uncle simply turned his head, secretly wiping away a tear, and forced a smile as he brought out fruit and snacks for us. My aunt was staying in the high-ranking official ward, which was also arranged by my uncle's good connections in the county town. Although the high-ranking official ward was much cleaner, the air here still carried a strong smell of disinfectant.

  Since I got the ghost eye, I can see some strange things from time to time. Last time before my parents went out, that is when I was hospitalized, I saw dancing Jingjing. This time, I saw a white-clad ghost standing behind my elder sister, hugging her lower body with his arm, and his two eyes were full of ferocity.

  When I saw him, the ghost looked at me and I suddenly felt a chill all over my body, almost screaming. The anger around gradually subsided, and my parents began to chat with my aunt, they didn't see the ghost, but I was very uneasy in my heart. Indeed, the master said it was right, people wouldn't have three disasters and six difficulties for no reason, it seems that my aunt was haunted by a ghost.

  Master told me some basic knowledge before he left last time, saying that ordinary ghosts are usually people who have just died and can't gather their energy. If there is resentment, it will entangle the person's body, making them lose their appetite and even get seriously ill. At first, I didn't believe it, but now I have to believe it.