After my grandfather passed away, I lost my only relative, and everything felt so unfamiliar. If it weren't for my fifth grandfather's arrival, I really wouldn't know how I would have lived.
My fifth grandfather lived in the woodshed next to the kitchen in my yard. I originally wanted him to live in my grandfather's room, but he absolutely refused, saying that he could live in the kitchen and that I could go to school without worrying about tuition and living expenses.
And so, my fifth grandfather settled down in my house. He was a man of few words, and he would get up at three or four o'clock every day to slaughter pigs and bring them back to our village to sell, while I continued to go to school.
After graduating from high school, I couldn't get into university because of my poor grades, so I started working. I changed jobs several times before finally getting a job at a post office courier station, where I've been working ever since.
"Is it over?" An Lili asked, her face pale and her voice trembling.
I shrugged and said, "That's it."
“But, the story of Blind Zuo isn’t scary at all. I have something even scarier. Do you want to hear it?” Zhang Guangyin’s face was a little unpleasant. Obviously, my story hadn’t scared An Lili into his arms. I had sat there for nothing for so long.
"No need, it's getting dark, and it's past my get off work hours. I'm going home," An Lili said, standing up and waving her hand.
"Zuo Changming, your grandfather used to be a sorcerer. Did you learn any of his skills?" Lin Xiaoxue asked me, her expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.
I shook my head and said, "My grandfather only taught me how to draw talismans before, he didn't teach me anything else."
Actually, I have another secret I haven't told you. When I was a child, my grandfather taught me a method of exhaling. However, he told me very seriously that I couldn't tell anyone about it, not even my closest relatives.
My grandfather said that I was in poor health when I was a child, and he obtained this breathing technique from a master. He promised the master that he would not tell anyone about it.
For many years, I have practiced this method almost every morning, and it has become a habit. I have hardly ever been sick since I was a child. I don't know if it's because of this breathing technique, but I am also stronger than the average person. I can load and unload packages weighing one or two hundred pounds all by myself.
"Is that guy from the next village, Hu Ergou, still around?" Lin Xiaoxue asked, a hint of disappointment on her face, as if she had just thought of something.
"Yes, what do you need him for?" I nodded and answered, not knowing why Lin Xiaoxue asked this.
"It's alright, it's getting late, I need to go home and help my son with his homework. Bye, I'm going home now, see you tomorrow." Lin Xiaoxue glanced at Zhang Guangyin and An Lili, her expression uncertain, then waved goodbye to us and hurriedly left with her bag.
Zhang Guangyin also stood up and said, "Lili, it's not safe for you to go home alone so late at night. How about I take you home?"
"No need, Zuo Changming and I are going the same way, I'll have him give me a ride." An Lili quickly waved her hand. She knew perfectly well what Zhang Guangyin was up to; he just wanted to use the excuse of escorting her home to see if there was an opportunity to make a move.
I could guess Zhang Guangyin's little scheme even with my eyes closed, but he's my boss and I really didn't want to offend him. However, An Lili had already asked me to take her home, which was on my way, so I didn't say anything for a moment, just nodded slightly.
Zhang Guangyin looked at me coldly, but because An Lili was present, he didn't lash out in order to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor.
Actually, I knew very well that taking An Lili home this time would offend Zhang Guangyin, but I had no choice. I really didn't know how to refuse a request from a young female colleague.
"Zuo Changming, let's go." An Lili picked up her bag, glanced at me, and walked out of the courier station first.
I didn't dare look at Zhang Guangyin's gloomy face, and walked out of the express station with my head down.
An Lili pushed out her Yadea Turtle electric scooter, put on her helmet, and sat on it waiting for me.
Although An Lili has been at our courier station for almost a month, this is the first time I've spent time alone with her.
I followed behind her, pushing my three- or four-year-old electric scooter with pedals.
"Zuo Changming, is the story you told true?" An Lili stopped her car not far from the courier station and turned to ask me.
"I guess so," I replied.
Actually, I don't know if that story is true, because apart from the time of my grandfather's burial, everything I knew about my childhood was told to me by my grandfather.
As for the person wearing a straw hat on the night of my grandfather's burial, I'm not sure if it was a person or a ghost. Perhaps Hu Ergou should know, but I asked him before and he didn't answer.
However, I firmly believe that my grandfather must have been a capable person, otherwise the villagers of Dafeng Village would not have respected him so much and taken good care of me for so many years after he passed away.
"So you really didn't learn any skills from your grandfather?" An Lili asked again.
"Sigh, no, when I was little, Grandpa just gave me a book of talismans and told me to practice drawing them when I had nothing to do. Later, I don't know where I threw that book away." I sighed and thought of my grandfather again. Unconsciously, he has been gone for more than ten years.
I have absolutely no feelings for my parents because they died when I was born. But it's different with my grandfather. I still can't forget the love he showed me.
"Didn't your grandfather leave you anything?" An Lili asked me, staring at me with great curiosity.
I felt that An Lili was acting strangely today, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. I thought for a moment and said very seriously, "No, Grandpa left very suddenly and didn't leave me anything."
"Oh." Anlili stared into my eyes for a while.
In the moonlight, I saw a hint of disappointment flash across An Lili's eyes.
I shook my head, not wanting to think about it too much, and said to An Lili, "It's getting late, Lili, I'll take you home."
“Okay.” An Lili turned around and rode her electric scooter ahead.
I followed on my electric bike. My electric bike, which I've been riding for two or three years and was provided by the courier station, has never had its battery replaced, so it can only travel about ten kilometers. Today, when I went to deliver a package, the battery was completely depleted, and I forgot to charge it, so I had to rely on my feet to drive it.
I followed behind An Lili, watching her slender back. Suddenly, I had a feeling that An Lili was very cold, a bone-chilling cold.
"Lili, slow down! My bike's battery's dead, I can't go fast," I shouted, pedaling hard.
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