Chapter 4 "Grandpa and Grandma, if I say I...
"Grandpa and grandma, if I tell you I just had a nightmare, and there was a man in my dream who kept whispering in my ear, saying that you two must not go out today. He said that if you go out, you will definitely get into an accident and get into trouble. Do you believe it? As for the fact that I took the brick when I went out, to be honest, even I am puzzled. I even have a vague idea how I threw the brick. So after I woke up, I was in a daze for a long time, wondering how this thing happened?"
Regarding this issue, Chen Pan already had a plan in mind when someone mentioned the word "Dongzi" just now.
On the way back, she had been rehearsing her plan in her head for a while. So now, upon entering the house and suddenly being met with curiosity and confusion from her grandparents, Chen Pan didn't hesitate at all and blurted it out. Of course, while she was speaking, Chen Pan acted like a little girl, confused and frightened.
Chen Yongdong is her nominal father. He is said to have died unexpectedly on the eve of his wedding while trying to save three little boys who fell into a reservoir. He rescued three people at once, but eventually became exhausted and couldn't climb out.
The only spring in their village that provides drinking water, also known as the Qingshui River, ultimately flows into that reservoir. That's why those people just looked at the water and said that perhaps Dongzi had blessed them this time.
Sure enough, after Chen Pan vaguely led everything to the father she had never met, Xu Chunhua, who was still very scared and curious, could not hold back her tears and immediately covered her cheeks and sobbed.
Grandpa Chen, whose face was full of solemnity and caution before, immediately had tears in his eyes.
"No wonder, you took a short nap in the afternoon and something seemed wrong when you woke up!" Chen Aiguo murmured softly.
"No wonder, no wonder." After all, Chen Pan was not their son's biological daughter, so the couple tried to say as little as possible about their son. The less they talked, the more it seemed that the pain of losing their only child naturally faded.
Seeing Chen Pan mention her son, Xu Chunhua, tears streaming down her face, immediately stepped forward and tightly grasped Chen Pan's shoulders. "Pan Pan, tell me, what did the man in your dream look like? What was he wearing? Besides saying that we'd be in danger if we went out today, did he say anything else?"
"I never got a clear look at his face, but he seemed to be wearing a blue and white plaid T-shirt. He didn't say anything except that it was a very bad day and it would be dangerous for us to go out, and he insisted that I not let us go out."
In his previous life, Chen Pan only truly learned about his life story from his grandfather after his grandmother passed away. But even before that, Chen Pan had already vaguely known everything from the gossip and strange attitudes of relatives and neighbors. After his grandmother passed away, while the family was sorting through her clothes and belongings, his grandfather suddenly found a pair of black pants and a blue and white plaid T-shirt in a bundle under the cabinet. He couldn't help but tell Chen Pan about her life story, making the matter clear.
In short, under normal circumstances, it is absolutely impossible for Chen Pan to know about the blue and white plaid T-shirt at this time.
Sure enough, after Chen Pan said this, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen, who were already superstitious, believed it even more.
Yes, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen are somewhat superstitious.
If they weren't superstitious, they wouldn't have performed the exorcism ceremony immediately after discovering Chen Pan's abnormality this afternoon.
If they were not superstitious, when they saw little Chen Pan suddenly appear at their doorstep, they would not have regarded everything as God's will and broken off their previous plan to adopt another boy from relatives or friends.
That night, the Chen family ate stir-fried cabbage, meatballs and vermicelli in sorrow.
Yes, the Chen family’s tradition is to have dinner normally no matter what happens.
Because they didn't buy meat, this dinner was slightly worse than expected in the eyes of Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen.
But in Chen Pan's eyes, this is the most delicious delicacy.
A bite of cabbage, a bite of potato balls, and then a bite of freshly fried crispy and soft oil cakes at home, Chen Pan felt extremely satisfied and delicious.
Seeing how eager she was to eat, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen, who had been a little sad just now, gradually calmed down.
At this time, they began to feel scared again, feel relieved again, and started to review what had just happened.
"Thanks to Panpan's brick this time, whether it was Panpan's father who showed up or our ancestor who showed up, our family was finally blessed and out of danger today. When we go to the grave tomorrow, I will burn more incense and paper money for Panpan's father and other ancestors. As for Panpan's brick, you must remember not to tell anyone. Even if you go to your father-in-law and mother-in-law or your sister-in-law and brother-in-law, you must remember to keep it a secret."
"Okay, got it. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"That's good. Panpan, you must remember that you must not tell anyone about what happened today."
"Grandpa, don't worry. No matter who asks me, I'm here to give grandma money today. By the way, grandpa and grandma, you must remember that I'm here to give grandma a wallet today!"
"Of course. I'll grab my wallet and go buy some meat tomorrow. I'll tell everyone everything about this matter. I just don't know what will happen to Li Chengcai this time."
Grandma Chen was too soft-hearted after all, and as she spoke, she started talking about Li Chengcai again.
"Who cares? He deserves to die!"
Grandpa Chen, who saw everything clearly from a distance, said directly with a blank expression.
Chen Pan also took the fried cake and paused eating: "Yes, that beast was afraid of hitting the stone pillar, so he chose to hit grandma directly."
Thinking of the scene just now, Chen Pan's teeth itched with hatred again. As for Li Chengcai, thinking of his pretense in his previous life, and all the miserable things that happened to his grandmother and his family, Chen Pan didn't feel any guilt at all.
"Yes, he saw that the turn was too big and he couldn't stop it. In the end, he chose to bump into you directly when he was between the hard stone pillar and you. If it wasn't for the brick in Panpan's hand that scared him and made him turn a little bit, he would definitely have bumped into you."
Thinking about the half of the concrete pillar that was broken and fell into the ditch, Grandpa Chen's face turned pale again as he spoke.
"That's so scary—old man, please stop talking. My legs are starting to go weak again when you say that."
As the person involved, Grandma Chen was still a bit dazed and out of her mind about everything that had happened tonight. She couldn't help but scream as she thought about the scene where her heart was pounding, her hands and feet were weak, and her body was completely unable to move. But then she suddenly remembered the fifty yuan bill she had just received. "Oh, old man, isn't this fifty yuan too much for us to ask for all at once? After all, I'm not really injured, and that kid from the Li family is so seriously injured."
"It's not much at all. If we hadn't asked for money and justice then, people would have thought something was wrong and would have bothered us later. Anyway, from now on, we have to completely forget about Panpan taking the brick and stick to our identity as victims. When we see them, we must repeatedly mention how we were almost hit, how we lost a pair of shoes and pants, and how we were almost scared to death. Only if we talk enough will the Li family not think we are guilty and stop bothering us in return."
After dinner, the Chen family brought the topic back to the starting point.
While his grandparents were constantly giving each other instructions and talking to each other, Chen Pan, who had just finished dinner, got off the kang and started washing the dishes and clearing the table.
Whenever it is winter, her family will definitely cook and eat in the house.
The reason they were busy in the kitchen today was because the oil from making fried meatballs and potatoes was splattering too much, and it wouldn't spread easily in the small pan. Plus, the fumes from frying were incredibly strong, and it would take days for the fumes to dissipate in the bedroom. So, as a last resort, her grandparents went to the kitchen to help.
Anyway, at this moment, while his grandparents were sitting on the kang next to him and talking, Chen Pan was working quickly on the stove below, washing all the dirty bowls and dishes in the house.
"Just pour the dirty water into the sewage bucket outside. Don't go out and pour it yourself to avoid catching a cold."
"Yeah, I got it, Grandma!"
"Panpan, don't think too much about what happened today. Take another Analgin before going to bed. After a good sleep, nothing will happen the next day."
"good!"
Fearing that Chen Pan would be frightened by what happened today, Grandpa and Grandma Chen turned around and said that even if the little ghost today was Chen Pan's father, Chen Pan's father would not hurt her. And that her beating today had nothing to do with her, so Chen Pan didn't have to feel guilty or overthink things.
Chen Pan, who was washing dishes, tidying the house and washing his face afterwards, agreed happily.
After everyone chatted until nine o'clock in the evening, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen, who were used to going to bed early, urged Chen Pan to go to bed quickly.
Before he was ten years old, Chen Pan actually always slept with Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen.
But when she was over ten years old, the small room on the other side of their main room became her bedroom.
Although the room was not large, it still had a kang, a small wardrobe, and a dedicated study desk.
But that room didn't get as much sunlight as the main room during the day. So, often, especially in the winter, Chen Pan would nap and study in her grandparents' room. At night, she would tidy up and quickly go to her own room to sleep.
Anyway, when it was time to go to bed, Chen Pan didn't hesitate at all when his grandparents urged him to go. He immediately took the red cotton jacket he had just taken off and the gray cotton pants on the small sofa and went to sleep in the next room.
Everything in the cabin is exactly the same as I remember.
Chen Pan observed for a while with mixed emotions, and finally went outside to use the toilet, then came back and lay down early.
Her small kang was also kept very warm by her grandparents.
Feeling the warm temperature below and listening to the low voices of the grandparents in the main house, Chen Pan, who had just taken a Analgin pill, fell asleep quickly.
In his previous life, Chen Pan seemed to have trouble sleeping since he started working at the age of fifteen.
When she was working in a factory, she worked night shifts for a while, and her daily routine became a little disrupted.
Later, when she started her catering business, she was forced to go to bed at two or three o'clock every night.
In her past life, she'd almost always gone to bed after midnight. At first, it was forced, but later, it became a habit. Even at the end of her life, while she was recuperating in the hospital and at home, she still had the habit of not falling asleep until the wee hours.
But all the bad habits of staying up late are now completely gone.
At this moment, Chen Pan had only been lying on the bed for less than ten minutes when he quickly fell asleep.
During the night, Chen Pan was woken up by his grandparents burning paper money in the yard outside. But after the grandparents stopped making any noise and turned off the lights to go to bed, Chen Pan fell asleep again after being woken up for a while.
That night, Chen Pan slept very contentedly.
Before opening his eyes in the morning, Chen Pan was so happy that he didn't even dare to open his eyes.
She didn't know what she was afraid of, but even when she woke up, she didn't dare to really open her eyes.
"Moo—"
“Woof woof, woof woof!!”
“Chuckle—”
"Whoa whoa!!!"
"quack!!"
“Hmph!!”
“Mee——”
"Chirp, chirp—"
Chen Pan, eyes closed, soon heard the barking of cattle, sheep, and dogs outside. Her old rooster crowed loudly, and the sows in her pigpen grunted dramatically. A few sparrows chirped outside, seemingly right on her window sill, until Chen Pan finally stopped sleeping even a second longer.
He stretched out his body in the quilt, wiped his eyes, and then stared at the sunlight filling the room. Chen Pan quickly sat up from the kang.
Yes, her room received the best morning sunlight of any room. Although it only shone for less than two hours before fading away, every time this time came, every time Chen Pan opened her eyes in the sunlight, she felt a special sense of happiness.
Anyway, after she finally sat up, she stretched lazily, closed her eyes, and bathed in the long-lost warm morning light.
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