Chapter 26 Old Things
After Gu Mingda showed his talent for studying when he was young, he spent most of his time in school.
If you think carefully, he basically lived in a private school in the county after he was ten years old.
The old Gu family has always been very particular about treating everyone equally. Even when their son Gu Mingda, who is studying, comes home, he will be asked to help with housework and farm work. Therefore, Gu Mingda has not had much contact with his younger sister.
When Gu Mingda occasionally recalled it, he could only vaguely see a blurry face of a child. He only remembered that Nannan was very beautiful, like a porcelain doll, but he could not remember what she looked like specifically.
When he received the news that his younger sister was seriously ill, he took leave from school and came back to visit her. However, he did not expect that as soon as he arrived at the village entrance, he heard a heart-wrenching wail coming from home.
His younger sister fell ill and died so quickly that he rushed back but was unable to see her for the last time.
"Your little sister...she...she is a very blessed child..." Old Mrs. Gu said with difficulty, her eyes gradually becoming moist.
Recalling the memories related to her daughter, Mrs. Gu felt like she had just had a short but beautiful dream.
The little daughter was like the perfect daughter God had given to her and her husband. Although she was young, she was well-behaved and considerate. Even if they were fantasizing, they could not imagine that there was such a good child in the world.
It was precisely because their youngest daughter was perfect that the old couple wanted to give her the best things in the world. It was only after their youngest daughter died that Old Man Gu was stimulated and gradually became confused.
Mrs. Gu suddenly grabbed Gu Mingda's hand and said, "Second brother, I would rather die than her."
Gu Mingda gently patted his mother's back. Today, Niuniu suddenly fell into a coma, and he was curious for a moment, so he wanted to ask a few more questions, but he didn't expect that it would actually evoke his mother's pain. He immediately felt sorry and said, "Mom, I won't ask anymore."
When Mrs. Gu heard this, she shook her head and said, "Even if you didn't ask, I would still tell you. You are the smartest person in this family. There are some things we can't figure out, but you might be able to figure them out. Niuniu... Niuniu is also a blessed child... No matter whether this child is Nannan's reincarnation or not, she must not be like Nannan!"
When Gu Mingda heard this, his heart sank, as if the worst had happened.
Old Mrs. Gu wiped away her tears and said, "Do you still remember your father's wine recipe?"
Gu Mingda nodded. The eldest wife had mentioned this matter before, and her words implied that he suspected that he had taken the wine-making recipe.
"The Gu family's ancestors did have a recipe for brewing wine, but it's actually not that special. They only brewed a little wine to supplement their family income when they had plenty of grain. It's not worth it for taverns from all over the country to come and buy it."
Listening to his mother's words, Gu Mingda immediately thought of a possibility and asked, "Did Dad improve the wine recipe? Does this have anything to do with my little sister?"
Old Lady Gu nodded and said, "Not long after Nannan turned one, she saw your father brewing wine, and the little girl suddenly said, 'Dad, I'm wrong, I'm wrong.'"
Gu Mingda recalled how his children looked when they were just one year old. The eldest, Gu Yan, was the smartest one, but he could not speak clearly at the age of one. He just uttered the same few words over and over again. He was nowhere near as smart as his younger sister.
"Your father didn't know Nannan's specialness at the time. He smiled and teased her, asking what was wrong. Nannan said that the order of brewing wine was wrong and that something was missing... I don't know how to brew wine, and I don't remember the order or what was missing. Your father's face changed when he heard it." When Old Mrs. Gu talked about this, her face was still full of regret.
After all, if she remembered the wine recipe, the family would now have some extra income.
"Your father really made wine according to the method Nannan told him. At first I thought your father loved his daughter, and I blamed him for wasting food. I didn't expect that the jar of wine brewed according to the method Nannan casually mentioned supported our family to live in the blue brick and tile house we have now." Old Mrs. Gu looked at the house with a sigh.
The old Gu family lives in a blue brick and tile house, which is the second best house in Qingshui Village after the village chief's house. After so many years, the number of families in the entire village who can live in blue brick and tile houses can be counted on one hand.
Old Lady Gu continued, "But the same night that Nannan told us the recipe, she had a fever. Your father and I took her to the town to see a doctor in the middle of the night. Coincidentally, her fever went away as soon as we got to the town. She was able to jump around as if she had never been sick. But when your father asked her about the recipe again, she had no memory of it at all."
Gu Mingda was shocked when he heard this.
He thought about what happened in the mountain today. Niu Niu fell into a coma inexplicably and woke up again when she came down the mountain. It was so similar to what happened to Nannan back then.
He also remembered how Niu Niu left the Zhang family. She had a high fever that lasted all night, but her fever immediately subsided when she was taken to the town by Yunniang. It was simply a repetition of history.
Old Lady Gu continued, "At the time, your father and I just thought that Nannan was too young and couldn't remember many things, so we didn't think about it any further."
"After the family received subsidies from selling liquor, life gradually became more comfortable and we saved a lot of money. We raised our daughter until she was five years old. When we thought we had taken good care of her, we took her to the temple to fulfill our vow."
Gu Mingda didn't understand why this happened again, and couldn't help asking, "What's your wish?"
Old Lady Gu explained, "After giving birth to you three boys, your father and I have been hoping to have a little girl. We went to the temple to burn incense every year. One year, after seeing a clay statue of a virgin added to the temple, your father said to the Bodhisattva that he hoped to have a little girl as blessed as the virgin. Not long after, I became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter."
Old Mrs. Gu couldn't help but shed tears again, and said, "If I had known that being too blessed would lead to an early death, I wouldn't have asked your father to make such a wish to the Buddha. I just want my daughter to be safe..."
When Gu Mingda thought of his lost second son, he felt extremely empathetic. The pain of losing a child is an unbearable burden for every parent.
"I thought she was five years old and had established herself, so I dared to take her to the temple to fulfill her vow. But as soon as we entered the temple and explained our purpose, the abbot's face changed drastically. He said that children prayed for in the temple cannot enter the temple again before they are 18 years old. He said we broke the rules and it was not a good thing."
Mrs. Gu was already in tears, her eyes full of self-blame and regret: "We were ignorant and harmed our daughter..."
Gu Mingda hurriedly comforted her, "Mom, don't think like that. The host only said it was not a good thing, but he didn't say it would cause our daughter to lose her life."
Old Lady Gu shook her head and continued, "After your father and I returned from the temple, we were extremely cautious. After a month, nothing bad happened. Every time your father went into the mountains, there were always pheasants and rabbits coming to our door, and we could easily find wild fruits and mushrooms hidden in the woods. We no longer paid attention to the host's words, until..."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
