Chapter 199: Chapter 166: Master Xu who likes to keep a low profile, a stumbling block!
Translator: 549690339 |
“Who are you?”
Xu Yang “looked” at the young man, feeling that his face was familiar, but the name had slipped his mind.
Since he called himself “old classmate,” he must indeed be a classmate. Xu Yang just couldn’t remember if he was from high school or junior high school…
“Don’t you recognize me?”
The young man was initially annoyed, but when he saw Xu Yang’s tightly closed eyes, he couldn’t help but be taken aback: “Old classmate, what’s wrong with your eyes?”
Xu Yang’s eyes had already recovered a bit.
He could already feel the sunlight on his eyelids, but his vision had not fully returned; it was still blurry, and the pain from opening his eyes persisted, so he kept them closed out of habit.
Xu Yang said, “I caught a bit of a cold recently, but it’s not a big deal, I’ll be fine in a while… Your voice sounds very familiar, are you… ”
Since that was the case.
He might as well pretend to be blind to ease the awkwardness.
“I’m Yang Fan.”
The young man introduced himself.
Yang Fan…
Xu Yang remembered and said, “Ah, our old class monitor… Come in, please!”
“Take it slow.”
Yang Fan stepped forward and supported Xu Yang.
Xu Yang had an impression of Yang Fan.
They had been classmates since tenth grade, and they continued to be in the same class for liberal arts after they chose their subjects. Yang Fan had become the class monitor since then.
His family was well-off; both of his parents worked in the local healthcare system. His mother was a department head, and his father was the deputy director of the People’s Hospital… Of course, this was all back in their school days.
Xu Yang was not sure about the current status of Yang Fan’s parents.
After Grandpa’s “death,” Xu Yang was devastated and didn’t even take the college entrance exam. From their high school graduation to their college graduation, four years had passed.
During these four years, besides Ma Long, Xu Yang had no contact with anyone else.
As for the WeChat group he had joined a few days ago, he had muted it.
After exchanging pleasantries, Yang Fan asked, “By the way, have you seen a hospital about your eyes?”
Xu Yang said, “When I went there, the ophthalmology department had closed for the day. Later, I saw an old Chinese doctor who said it was nothing serious, and I just needed to rest for a while at home!”
“How can that be?”
Yang Fan’s voice rose a few notches: “In terms of ophthalmology, Western medicine is much better. My father is now the director of the People’s Hospital, and my mother has been transferred to the Health Bureau… I know the head of the ophthalmology department at the People’s Hospital, I’ll have a word with him so you can go and get checked out.”
Xu Yang could only give a vague reply to Yang Fan’s goodwill and change the subject: “Old class monitor, what brought you to my place today? Are you buying some sacrificial supplies for tomb-sweeping?”
“We’ve all graduated, so we thought we’d organize a reunion, but we couldn’t get in touch with you. So, I asked around to find out your situation and came over here specifically to invite you.”
Yang Fan was initially annoyed before he arrived.
What was so great about Xu Yang?
They had called out to him in the group chat for several days, and him more than a dozen times, but he didn’t respond?
However, seeing Xu Yang now, all the anger dissipated… Life hadn’t been easy for Xu Yang!
He was an orphan, his beloved grandpa had also passed away.
Now, left with failing eyesight, he still persisted in running this shop…
Yang Fan sighed in his heart, this… This was the life of the underprivileged!
Xu Yang wasn’t really interested in the class reunion, but since they had come to his door to invite him, he could only agree and asked about the time and location.
“We’ve arranged it for tomorrow, at a rural resort. They offer everything from dining, entertainment to accommodation. It’s run by one of my uncles. We’ll set off at 12 noon tomorrow…”
Yang Fan said, “Your eyes are a bit inconvenient; do you want me to send someone to pick you up?”
“No need to trouble.”
Xu Yang said, “I’ll ask Ma Long to come pick me up.”
When old classmates met, they naturally had to discuss their future plans. Yang Fan lamented, “Actually, I wanted to stay and work in our hometown, but my father insisted that I go to Kyoto. He has an old classmate who is a big shot in Kyoto Hospital’s cardiology department, and he wanted me to go there to learn for a few years.”
Xu Yang wasn’t involved in the medical field, so he didn’t know the weight of this so-called “Kyoto Hospital cardiology department” big shot, but he just nodded along and praised Yang Fan for being impressive.
Yang Fan continued, “The main reason is my girlfriend; she’s also developing her career in Kyoto. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t be going!”
Look at this show-off!
This was the main reason why Xu Yang didn’t want to attend the class reunion… Being low-key as he was, he didn’t want to join in with the bragging of these people.
Yang Fan said, “I came back this time and heard that several of our classmates who didn’t make it to college got married and even have kids… I’m quite envious of you guys.”
“By the way, are you married yet?”
“If not, I can introduce… ”
Before he could finish, Yue Yuluo walked in from outside.
She was carrying a food container and said sweetly, “Husband, Mengxi and Shishi cooked some porridge and made some sugar dumplings. They asked me to bring you some.”
Yang Fan:
His eyes widened, completely dumbfounded.
Yue Yuluo saw Yang Fan and asked, “My husband, who is this?”
“An old classmate of mine.”
Xu Yang came over to take the food box, opened it, and called Yang Fan to eat. Only then did Yang Fan recovered from his surprise and asked, “Xu Yang, are you married too?”
“So, you are my husband’s classmate.”
Yue Yuluo curtsied properly, and the perfect execution of the gesture surprised Yang Fan even more!
What the hell!
This doesn’t make sense!
Why would Xu Yang, a funeral shop owner, marry such a beautiful wife?
And her temperament…
Simply indescribable!
Comparing his girlfriend and Xu Yang’s wife unconsciously, Yang Fan suddenly thought… his own girlfriend was just a piece of shit!
An inexplicable jealousy rose in his heart, and Yang Fan thought… what’s the use of being beautiful?
Can beauty be eaten as a meal?
Especially with Xu Yang’s situation, the more beautiful a woman, the less he would be able to afford her!
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yang Fan reminded Xu Yang to attend the class reunion on time tomorrow, and then left in a hurry.
After breakfast.
Xu Yang pulled Yue Yuluo into his arms and teased her for a while, when a Biyadi car stopped at the shop’s entrance.
Out of the car came “Xiao Cao”, who had brought him back that night, his head wrapped in gauze. He opened the back door of the car and called out his uncle, aunt, and the six-and-a-half-year-old child who couldn’t speak or walk yet.
Entering the shop, Xiao Cao respectfully said, “Master Xu.”
Xiang Yang asked, “Didn’t I tell you to come yesterday? Why did you come today?”
Xiao Cao smiled bitterly and said, “Master Xu, you are truly remarkable… You said I have dark luck and will face disaster soon. As a result, I was kicked by a cow yesterday morning while feeding it… I got several stitches in my head, so I got delayed because I went to the hospital.”
Xu Yang closed his eyes and “looked” at Xiao Cao. Seeing his face still in the same condition with a faint black aura, Xu Yang immediately said, “This is just a minor disaster; your calamity is not resolved yet. Later, I will give you a Daoist talisman, and it might save your life.”
He then looked at the child.
The child’s physical development was similar to that of a normal peer, chubby with round cheeks.
He sat in a large stroller that could be folded, generally suitable for a one to two-year-old child. It must have been customized for him by his parents… after all, the couple wasn’t young, and a normally developing six-and-a-half- year-old boy weighing more than 50kg would be too heavy for them to carry.
Bring the child closer.”
Xu Yang spoke up.
The woman pushed the child forward.
Her expression was complicated, with nervousness, expectation… and even a faint trace of fear!
With his eyes closed, Xu Yang carefully “looked.”
His spiritual power swept over the child’s body but found nothing unusual. Frowning, he asked, “Apart from not being able to talk or walk, is there anything else unusual about the child?”
While speaking, he reached out to grab the child’s hand.
The child was a little shy and pulled back his hand, looking warily at Xu Yang.
The woman said, “Our child hasn’t had any illnesses since childhood and is very normal… Oh right, his teeth came in late, only at around 11 months.”
“Teeth coming in late is not a disease; it’s not a big deal even if they come in at 11 months.”
“I heard from Xiao Cao that you went to do business in another place back then, and only returned after losing your son?”
Xu Yang used his spiritual power to scan the child’s body again, this time very slowly. While examining, he chatted with the middle-aged couple, learning from the conversation that they had made quite a bit of money when they were doing business in another place.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have spent hundreds of thousands on a “ghost marriage.”
While talking, Xu Yang suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”
The middle-aged woman’s face tensed, and the young man, Xiao Cao, asked, “Master Xu… have you found the cause of the illness?”
Xu Yang smiled, “It’s not necessarily a disease, but just some minor issues … ”
His spiritual power lingered on the child’s ankles… and he vaguely “saw” a thin rope wrapped around the child’s ankle, binding him. Every time the child tried to walk, he would trip and fall.
“Tripping rope!”
A term suddenly emerged in Xu Yang’s mind!
It was a folk custom in Lu area which was rarely heard of in the Northwest.
In Lu’s local customs, there was a funeral custom. Before being placed in the coffin, a rope was tied around the deceased’s ankle, commonly called a “tripping rope.”
The reason for tying the tripping rope was to prevent accidents during funerals, such as encountering thunder and lightning, cats passing over the body, or corpse changes. It was also said that when a person died, there was still a breath left in the chest cavity, which would cause them to momentarily stand up when stimulated by their body’s magnetic field.
Tying the “tripping rope”, on the other hand, could prevent such accidents.
In case the corpse did stand up, it would fall because of the rope, limiting the corpse’s movements.
Xu Yang stood up and took out a peach wood sword with a wave of his hand. He said to the couple, “Take the child down and put him on the ground; let him walk.”
“Huh?”
The woman said, “Master, my child can’t walk… he always falls as soon as he walks.”