Twenty-one
Yan Ran carefully looked through the navigation and confirmed that this was the only way to Piaomiao Temple. He then drove back onto the road while swearing.
Yan Ran never waits for revenge. Last night, Jie Qianchou packed up two portions of king crab and vanished from the world. The message Yan Ran sent him was like a stone sinking into the sea. Yan Ran was furious all night. Not only had she helped him find Gao Xing's case, she had even generously treated him to a meal. And this guy had actually, actually, stolen a pair of king crabs from her! Uncle could tolerate this, but Auntie couldn't. Yan Ran recalled that back in Tiantang Town, Jie Qianchou's certificate of ordination had his address written on it. So, after finishing her work for the day—another day when the consultation room was deserted—Yan Ran drove her red Teana straight to the so-called Yunwu Mountain to find Jie Qianchou to ask for the king crabs.
Yunwu Mountain was recently renamed. Previously, it was called Goutou Mountain. This mountain is located at the very edge of the city. The side facing away from the city is used as a garbage dump, while the side facing the city has been built into a forest park.
Yan Ran didn't know who had come up with this plan; she only knew that locals shouldn't come here. As her car reached the foot of the mountain, a strong, foul smell filled her nostrils from all directions. The mountain road was narrow, and every now and then a large garbage truck would flash its lights, honk its horn, and pass her. The surrounding trees were crooked and twisted, and the weeds on the ground were extremely tall.
Yan Ran nervously drove to the gate of a Taoist temple. It wasn't large, but it looked quite old. The temple sign had disappeared, and the walls were missing bricks on the east side and had holes in the west. Only the wooden gate appeared intact, and it was covered in moss.
Yan Ran was a local, and after searching for a long time, she couldn't find any impression of Piao Miao Temple. Yan Ran took out her phone and opened the encyclopedia. The editor column of Piao Miao Temple clearly had the name Jie Qianchou!
When Yan Ran walked into the temple, the first thing he saw was not the main hall or the statue, but Jie Qianchou, who was only wearing a pair of shorts and hanging clothes in the yard.
Their eyes met, and there was embarrassment, surprise, and disbelief in each other's eyes.
Jie Qianchou lifted up his pants and asked, "Why are you here?"
Yan Ran narrowed his eyes: "Is it not okay to burn incense?"
"Okay, okay, the incense we burn here is very effective."
As he was speaking, an old Taoist priest emerged from the dark temple. He looked to be about seventy years old, with completely white hair and no beard.
Xie Qianchou said to the Taoist priest, "Master, this is my classmate, he came to see me."
The old Taoist priest looked a little discouraged. He waved at Yan Ran and said, "Let's have dinner together tonight?"
Four dishes were placed on the table, all cooked by Jie Qianchou, and the portions were generous and filling. The old Taoist priest's surname was Zhao, and he was the only one in the entire temple. Jie Qianchou's grandfather, Old Xie, sat next to Old Zhao. Old Xie was in his seventies, and had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease for several years. Since then, he had lived in the temple, keeping Old Zhao company.
The last thing on the table was two king crabs. Jie Qianchou placed one in front of each of the two elderly people.
Taoist Zhao pushed the plate in front of Yan Ran and said, "Old people can't eat something so cold. You guys eat it!"
Taoist Zhao turned his head to look at Lao Xie. He ate whatever was placed in front of him and had already broken open the crab legs and started to bite into them.
Jie Qianchou took out a bottle of Erguotou and filled it up for his grandfather: "Drink while you eat, and eat more."
When Taoist Zhao saw the wine, he handed over his glass. Jie Qianchou took out a bottle of juice from behind and filled it up for Taoist Zhao.
Jie Qianchou said, "Don't worry about the wine. Have you forgotten what the doctor said?"
Taoist Zhao said, "Isn't your girlfriend here? It's rare for you to be happy. Quick, pour me a glass."
Jie Qianchou pushed the juice towards Zhao Laodao and said, "This is my good high school classmate, Yan Ran, the current CEO of a consulting company and a famous young psychologist. We are just classmates."
Yan Ran snorted in his heart, don't think that I will forgive you just because you give me a few compliments.
Yan Ran placed the king crab in front of him in front of Zhao Laodao: "I brought this specially for you two elders, please eat it."
Yan Ran turned his head and secretly glared at Jie Qianchou.
Xie Qianchou quickly said, "Ah... yes! This is President Yan's gift. She didn't come yesterday because it was too late, hehe."
Taoist Zhao still divided the crab into several portions, keeping only two legs for himself and giving the rest to Yan Ran and Jie Qianchou.
Xie Qianchou had changed his usual style. He seemed very honest here, even a little restrained. Yan Ran guessed that he was afraid that he would come to collect the debt in person. Yan Ran deliberately kept his temper. The more sweat on Xie Qianchou's forehead, the happier Yan Ran became.
Old Xie was halfway through his meal when he suddenly stood up and turned to walk towards the kitchen. Xie Qianchou put down his chopsticks and followed him silently.
Yan Ran felt strange and glanced at Taoist Zhao.
Taoist Zhao sighed, "It's okay. He went to make egg custard for Xiao Xie. Do you know anything about Xiao Xie's father?"
Yan Ran nodded. When Jie Qianchou was in middle school, his father died in an accident, so for the remaining years, Jie Qianchou's mother attended all the parent-teacher conferences.
Zhao Laodao continued, "During your college entrance examination, Xiao Xie's mother went missing."
"Lost?" Yan Ran asked casually.
Taoist Zhao said, "It's been years, and we still haven't found out where he went. His son died, his daughter-in-law disappeared, and Old Xie developed dementia. The old man was stuck on the day before Xiao Xie's college entrance examination and couldn't get out. He would often make egg custard, saying it was for his grandson's nourishment."
Yan Ran looked at the direction where Jie Qianchou left, wondering what he was thinking.
Taoist Zhao picked up the wine on the ground and poured himself a glass. "I'm very happy that you can come to see Xiao Xie. This child has to support the two of us old men and find his mother. It's not easy. This child has a lot on his mind. Mr. Yan, please give him more guidance."
Taoist Zhao raised his glass with both hands and toasted Yan Ran with a full glass of wine.
Xie Qianchou stood behind his grandfather, watching him make a bowl of egg custard from beginning to end. He didn't say a word until Old Xie blew the egg custard to cool it down and walked past Xie Qianchou with it.
Grandpa walked to the courtyard, looked around, and then asked Xie Qianchou who was following behind him: "Young man, have you seen my Xie Qian?"
Jie Qianchou smiled and pointed to his grandfather's bedroom.
I don't know when the moon came up, casting a faint light.
While cooking, Xie Qianchou accidentally burned his hand and got a blister. Squeezing the blister, he walked to the pavilion in the backyard of the Taoist temple and sat down against a tree. He couldn't remember whether he was in the first or second year of junior high school that year. He was in the audience, anticipating his father, Xie Xuenong,'s performance, just like everyone else.
The Xie family is a long-standing family of magicians, and Xie Xuenong became a renowned magician at an early age. His tricks are known for their novelty and thrills, and he always delivers thrilling performances to the audience. This time, Xie Xuenong performed a completely new magic trick.
Xing Qianqiu, the beautiful assistant in a cheongsam—and also Xie Qianchou's mother—removed the red velvet covering the massive device, revealing a guillotine with a massive blade. Xie Xuenong, dressed in a white Tang suit, slowly walked onto the stage. Today, he was performing a brand new, large-scale magic trick: the decapitation technique.
Xie Xuenong first performed a few tricks to engage the audience, which brought laughter. He then placed a thick wooden stake into the guillotine, and Xing Qianchun lowered the guillotine. The sharp blade plummeted from a height of two meters, snapping the stake like a scallion.
The audience in the audience heard the sound of wooden stakes breaking, and some of them exclaimed in surprise. Their interest was piqued and they were all looking forward to Xie Xuenong's next performance.
Stage magic differs from television magic in that it offers a more immersive and realistic experience, enhancing the audience's experience. While guillotining has been around since ancient times and can be performed in various sizes, bringing a large guillotine to the stage, as is done today, was a rare sight at the time.
Jie Qianchou, who was sitting in the front row, felt not only excited but also a little worried about his father.
On the stage, Xie Xuenong ignited several talismans and crawled under the guillotine. There was a circular hole beneath the guillotine. After Xie Xuenong's head entered, Xing Qianchun secured his neck to the hole and then completely wrapped his head in black velvet. A gleaming guillotine hung from a rope above the guillotine. Untie the rope and the guillotine would drop from the sky.
The next performance should be Xing Qianchun putting down the guillotine, Xie Xuenong's head falling off, and then the headless Xie Xuenong stood up and looked around for his lost head. Finally, with the help of his assistant, Xie Xuenong successfully pressed his head back into place.
The accident happened at this moment. When Xing Qianchun put down the guillotine, a bloody head rolled directly to the stage. Jie Qianchou watched his father's head and body being torn apart...
Xie Qianchou was not one to reminisce. Perhaps because he had drunk too much tonight, he recalled some past events. The evening breeze blew gently, and Xie Qianchou stretched himself against a tree.
He looked at the dark night sky and murmured casually: "After being drunk, I didn't know that the sky was under the water. The whole boat was filled with clear dreams, which overwhelmed the starry sky."
Across the wall, Yan Ran leaned against the side of the moon gate and watched Jie Qianchou from afar. It was a tall, strong tree, leafless but covered in white flowers. A gentle breeze blew under the moonlight, and the white petals slowly fell, floating on Jie Qianchou's head and body like snow.
Yan Ran added in a low voice: "The King of Xiang has grown many white hairs in one night."
Yan Ran didn't say hello to Jie Qianchou. She said goodbye to Taoist Zhao and went down the mountain. Taoist Zhao got drunk after drinking a little, and he couldn't stop talking. The topic was naturally Jie Qianchou.
Yan Ran, a psychology major, understood Jie Qianchou's psychology and feelings. He witnessed his father's brutal death before his eyes, and at a crucial moment in his life, his mother suddenly disappeared. He was left with a grandfather who couldn't care for himself and lived a repetitive life, and an uncle who lived far away. Faced with this, Jie Qianchou's choices became understandable. He couldn't attend university like his peers. Like his peers, he wanted to save face, so he hid himself away, never showing up among his classmates.
Fortunately, there was Taoist Master Zhao. He was an old friend of Xie Qianchou's grandfather. Seeing that the Xie family was in trouble, he took Old Xie to live in the Taoist temple, saying that the two old men would not be lonely. Jie Qianchou knew Zhao's kindness, so he became his disciple and treated the temple like his home.
Yan Ran parked her car on the side of the road; the mountain road was difficult to navigate at night. She rolled down the window and watched the weeds sprout tiny flowers of various colors. Yan Ran pulled out her phone and sent a message to Jie Qianchou: "My teacher has experience curing Alzheimer's. I can introduce him to you if you need help."
Yan Ran thought for a moment and added: But you have to pay me back for the two crabs!!!
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