Chapter 23 Sickly Person 5
◎ I'll discuss this with the King of Hell later◎
On the way back to the inn, Yan Yue answered Qi Zhaoyang's questions.
Like, why couldn’t she go meet a ghost?
"I don't know! According to them, if you get within three feet of me, your soul will feel like it's being torn apart. One time I accidentally touched a ghost, and the place I touched actually smoked, just like being burned by charcoal!"
Qi Zhaoyang couldn't help but feel a little pain in his heart: Comparing yourself with others will only make you angry!
He practiced hard for twenty years, and he could see ghosts with his eyes open and still be completely healthy and talk to them! And there is no need to worry about ghosts harming her, because ghosts can't get close to her at all! This is really...how can this be justified?
Qi Zhaoyang felt that Yan Yue was born to practice Taoism and to exorcise demons and evil spirits.
Yan Yue's whole body was filled with rejection: "I can't even hide yet, and you want me to go around the world looking for them? Am I crazy? I just want to do a small business now, do some small business, have no worries about food and clothing, and live happily!"
As she spoke, she started discussing with Zhou Lin about starting some small business.
Qi Zhaoyang couldn't hear what Zhou Lin was saying and felt like there was an invisible third party between them, which was very strange.
He also booked a room upstairs, specifically the one next to Yan Yue's, and moved in.
In the middle of the night, the window of Qi Zhaoyang's room opened without any wind, making a creaking sound, as if someone was deliberately opening and closing the window.
Qi Zhaoyang sneered, took out two pieces of talisman paper and pasted them on the window and door, and the room immediately became quiet.
Zhou Lin, who was floating outside the window, was blocked by the golden light. He thought about turning into a ghost. It was said that ghosts could break the spells of these stinky Taoist priests!
*
The Zheng family acted quickly.
Three days later, Yan Yue was having dinner with Qi Zhaoyang, discussing whether she should open a candy shop.
Qi Zhaoyang smiled and said, "I'm afraid you'll eat all the candies before they're sold out."
The housekeeper of the Zheng family suddenly came over and said, "Master, Fairy Lady, my master has caught the child!"
Yan Yue and Qi Zhaoyang rushed to Zheng's house and were surprised to find a female ghost in the yard. Zheng Qian was constantly bowing and apologizing to the female ghost.
Yan Yue looked at the child and the female ghost and asked, "What's going on? Adopting a child and sending the ghost mother?"
This sentence frightened the housekeeper so much that he almost fell down. Zheng's father also asked in shock: "What, what ghost mother?"
Upon inquiry, we learned that Zheng's father and mother had made up their minds and decided to adopt the child.
They didn't really want to adopt a son to replace Zheng Qian, but they wanted to make Zheng Qian feel at ease. After all, the Zheng family was wealthy and powerful, and adopting an orphan was no big deal. They could just treat it as a good deed.
They went to burn incense and offer tributes to Zheng Qian, while secretly hiding in the dark and observing. He saw that the child had indeed stolen some of Zheng Qian's offerings and took away a small portion of paper money, and then kowtowed to Zheng Qian three times.
The child placed offerings and paper money on his mother's grave, kowtowed, sat beside and talked to his mother for a while, then rubbed his hands and ate a piece of the offering snack.
Zheng's father thought that the child had good character, so he coaxed and deceived the child into coming back.
The female ghost didn't know what was going on and just thought someone had bad intentions towards her son. Fortunately, it was getting dark, so she followed him to Zheng's house.
After Zheng Qian finished explaining to the female ghost, Yan Yue explained again.
The female ghost was worried about her child, so she stayed in the mortal world. Now that she saw that the Zheng family was wealthy and their only son, Zheng Qian, had become a ghost, she finally felt relieved and agreed to let the Zheng family adopt her son.
The child was only six or seven years old, but he was very smart and did not believe what Yan Yue said.
"You said my mother is willing for me to recognize them as my father and mother? How do you prove it?"
The female ghost taught Yan Yue to hum a ballad and said, "Your mother said that when you were a child, she always hummed this ballad to coax you to sleep. Is that right?"
The child's eyes widened immediately, his bright black pupils sparkling with tears, "Is it really my mother?"
Yan Yue said: "Your mother told you to listen to the elders and treat them as filial as she is to her. She will be watching you from heaven. If you dare to be naughty, she will give you a meal of braised pork with rattan sticks!"
After saying that, Yan Yue looked at the female ghost in confusion: "What is braised pork with rattan sticks?"
The child laughed and wiped away his tears, saying, "It's a cane spanking! That's what my mother always said when she spanked me!"
Yan Yue didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You are quite proud!"
The child hugged Yan Yue's thighs and said tearfully, "Sister, can you help me tell my mother that I miss her so much?"
Yan Yue nodded to the ghost, smiled, pinched the tip of the child's nose and said, "Your mother said she knew. You told her dozens of times every time you went to her grave. Her ears must be calloused!"
The child covered his nose, laughed and cried, and said, "My mother asked you to pinch my nose, didn't she?"
Yan Yue pinched the child's ear again and said, "Your mother also said that you are not allowed to take advantage of others' good temper to be naughty in the future! Otherwise, let me pinch you for her!"
"Hey!" The child answered clearly.
Yan Yue added: "Your mother asked you to kowtow to Zheng's father and mother."
The child did not hesitate at all. He knelt down immediately and kowtowed three times in a row: "I meet my father and mother!"
Father Zheng was startled and quickly helped the child up.
Mother Zheng felt distressed when she saw the red spot on her child's forehead. She quickly wiped it with a handkerchief and said, "Why did you use so much force, kid? What if it gets broken?"
Yan Yue said: "Your mother said that from now on, you will change your surname to Zheng. Remember, your eldest brother's name is Zheng Qian. You must be filial to your father and mother on behalf of your eldest brother. Your mother and your eldest brother will always be watching."
"Hey! Mom, big brother! I remember it!"
The child nodded heavily, and when he blinked, crystal tears rolled down his cheeks.
The female ghost let out a long sigh, saluted to Yan Yue and Zheng Qian, and then saluted to Zheng's father and mother even though they couldn't see her, and then turned around and floated away.
Yan Yue said to the child, "Kowtow to your mother and send her off on her journey in peace."
The child knelt down and kowtowed three times again. The branches of the dead tree in the yard shook as if in response.
"Mom!" the child shouted, and finally burst into tears.
*
The child's original name was Feng Yi. Zheng's parents thought that the child had a cheerful and clever personality, which was very suitable for the bright and vivid character "Yi", so they only changed the surname.
From then on, Zheng Yi became the second son of the Zheng family.
His biological mother was reburied by the Zheng family in a fine coffin, and Zheng Yi was allowed to come and pay his respects at any time.
This move caused great dissatisfaction among Zheng's distant relatives.
Originally, Zheng Qian had died and the Zheng family had no descendants, so they would probably have to choose a young man from among their distant relatives to adopt. Those families with children of school-age have been eager to try. They bring their children here from time to time, under the pretext of visiting, and try their best to make their children appear smart and filial so that they can be chosen as the heir to the Zheng family.
Yan Yue felt that the reason why Zheng's mother was bedridden was probably because she was angered by these people who were eagerly eyeing the Zheng family's property.
Now a child named Zheng Yi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but they were so angry that they came to the door and said that Zheng's father and mother were old and confused, and were deceived by the witch and the child, and they were going to ruin the Zheng family.
In the afternoon, the Zheng family's housekeeper hurried to the inn and said that Zheng Yi was missing.
I sent Zheng Yi to school in the morning, and when I went to pick him up in the afternoon, the teacher said that Zheng Yi had left at noon and had not been seen since then.
Yan Yue, Qi Zhaoyang and the Zheng family went to look for him together, even going to his biological mother's grave, but still couldn't find him.
In the evening, Zheng's mother looked extremely anxious and discussed with Zheng's father whether to send someone to report to the police. However, a distant relative of the Zheng family said that the child must have stolen valuables from the Zheng family and ran away, and asked them to check if anything was stolen in the house.
Just at this moment, Zheng Yi came back covered in dust.
Mother Zheng rarely showed her stern side, but at this moment she shouted, "Where have you been?"
Zheng Yi knelt down and opened the dirty cloth in his arms. Three black sweet potatoes were lying inside.
With tears in his eyes, he said, "Mother, father, I don't need to wear nice clothes, nor do I need to spend money to go to school. I can wash clothes, farm, fetch water, chop wood, and I can also bake sweet potatoes. Try them, they are so sweet!"
Mother Zheng looked at the three roasted sweet potatoes and felt the blood that had been stagnant for a long time begin to surge again.
Zheng Yi opened his eyes wide, as if he didn't want to let the tears fall. There was a hint of stubbornness in her little face and tone: "I will be filial to you, and I don't want the Zheng family's property. Don't chase me away..."
Mother Zheng burst into tears and hugged Zheng Yi. She looked at the distant relatives of the Zheng family and said angrily: "You are my child. I don't know who dares to drive you away!"
Zheng Yi tilted his head to look at the distant relatives of the Zheng family, and pursed his lips: "They said that I was a liar and wanted to defraud the Zheng family's property. I am not, I didn't! Mother is watching me, and my eldest brother is watching me too, I won't..."
Zheng's father immediately understood that a distant relative of the Zheng family came to cause trouble in the morning and was heard by Zheng Yi.
He glanced at the distant relatives next to him and ordered the housekeeper, "From now on, those distant relatives are not allowed to enter the Zheng family again! And don't let me know who dares to talk nonsense in front of the second young master! The second young master of the Zheng family will not tolerate outsiders talking about him!"
Qi Zhaoyang stepped forward and said, "The Zheng family recognized their son, and my Qingxu Temple is a witness. If you have any doubts, you may come to my Qingxu Temple to discuss it!"
The distant relative was so embarrassed that his face turned red and then black. In the end, he didn't dare to say anything and left in shame.
As it got dark, Zheng Qian stood beside Yan Yue, watching Zheng's mother holding a black roasted sweet potato. The corners of her mouth turned black from eating, but her face was full of love and doting.
Yan Yue asked: "Are you jealous?"
"Miss Yue underestimates me too much."
Zheng Qian looked at his mother and said, "My mother adopted little Yi'er before just to make me feel at ease. It was not until today that she really accepted Yi'er. I am so happy that I don't have time to be jealous. It's a pity that I didn't have such a brother when I was alive, otherwise my life would have been much more interesting!"
Yan Yue sighed and said, "Look at your family, one is reluctant to part with the other, and the other is reluctant to part with the other."
She patted the dead tree in the yard and said, "Why don't you be reborn as this dead tree in your next life? That way you can look after your parents and brother, and be with them!"
Zheng Qian smiled and said, "That's great! When I see the King of Hell, I will definitely discuss it with them!"
Zhou Lin interrupted, "You're dreaming! What about the King of Hell? Maybe the ghost messenger will just throw you into the oil pan and fry you to get rid of the disease!"
Qi Zhaoyang saw Yan Yue talking to herself, and soon she burst into laughter. He couldn't help but ask, "What are you talking about that makes you look so happy?"
Before Yan Yue could answer, Zheng Yi ran over, grabbed her and said, "Sister Yue, even though I only roasted three sweet potatoes, they are one for each of father, mother, and you! Come with me and eat them quickly, or they won't taste good if they get cold!"
Qi Zhaoyang was dissatisfied and asked, "Why is there no one for me?"
The little boy changed the subject and said, "Brother Zhaoyang is an immortal master. Father prepared exquisite meals for Brother Zhaoyang. My roasted sweet potatoes are so shabby!"
The group went to the side hall in the backyard to have dinner. Zhou Lin was about to follow when Zheng Qian stopped him.
"Brother Zhou, I think it's time."
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