Chapter 7: Tears that flow down the back of my hand

Faced with my surprise, the slightly domineering young man was actually a little embarrassed. He said, “Because my grandfather is old, and there are many swindlers in modern society, our family has been cheated of money, so…”

“So they are very wary of me, right?” I raised my eyebrows, but I wasn’t angry. Apart from a few insiders, I am still clear about what attitude the rich and the common people in this society have towards Taoists.

When something happens, they panic and look for help; when nothing happens, they just watch and wait to see what happens. This kind of mentality has become a common phenomenon, so why should I be angry?

I walked back over and sat down in front of the young man again. I could see that he wanted to say something to me.

He was probably a man who valued his time, so he was very direct. He took a sketch out of a drawer and handed it to me. I took a look at it and saw a portrait of a man, who looked like me. I understood what was going on and put the sketch down. I looked at him and signaled him to continue.

“The story goes like this: My grandfather always dreamed that his ancestors told him that there would be a man who would come to our family and bring us something important. We should treat him with respect! You know, as someone who has studied at a key university, studied abroad, and received a scientific education since childhood, I definitely don’t believe in this. I was like that. My first reaction was that my grandfather had met a liar. If you give a strong psychological suggestion to something like dreaming, you can make a person dream about the same scene for a period of time. The young man talked enthusiastically.

I drank tea and listened to him in silence.

“So, I started an investigation, first by investigating the people around my grandfather. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any results. So, I deliberately found a professional based on my grandfather’s description and drew a rough sketch of the person in my dream. I kept waiting for an opportunity. In my mind, since it had been so long, the liar would definitely come to the door, and then it would be time to uncover everything.” The young man continued.

“So, are you telling me that you have already reported it to the police?” I put down my teacup and thought to myself, “Why would the police bother with such a trivial matter? But, maybe, wealthy families are more cautious and sometimes even paranoid. In this way, ordinary families are not necessarily less happy than them, and maybe even more.

What is money for? In my opinion, if it doesn’t bring happiness, then money is just a piece of paper, an abstract number.

I smiled at this thought, but the young man shook his head and said, “I originally planned to do this, but as soon as you mentioned money in front of me, you know…”

“Mm,” I nodded lightly and asked, “Why did you change your mind?”

“Because I didn’t expect that you would really come to our house to give us a brochure. Oh, it’s what you call inheritance! I suddenly became interested, and even had the urge to experiment. In fact, I’m not afraid to tell you that when your life has money to a certain point, in addition to the daily fatigue, the uneasiness of not wanting to go down from a certain social status, life really becomes a bit boring. If I see a different world…” The young man’s eyes had a little unusual light, and I could see that it was longing.

“What a mess!” I commented, then said, “You must remember that if you use what you have learned to harm others, the result will be very bad! This is not what I mean, but what the person who gave me the inheritance meant.”

“Who is that person?” the young man suddenly asked me.

“I said it was your grandfather’s dream, your ancestor. Do you believe it?” After saying this, I had already stood up and turned to leave, leaving behind a silence.

Before I walked out the door, the young man suddenly asked, “I’m not sure if I believe it now, but is your contact information real?”

“Except when you have something you don’t understand, don’t call unless it’s important.” I put my hand on the doorknob and paused, then said, “By the way, I’ll tell you a story. There was once a family, the first family to receive this inheritance, who used it to do something against the will of heaven. The result was that almost all the people in the family died, and now it is doomed to extinction. Don’t think I’m scaring you. Okay, that’s all I have to say.”

After saying that, I walked out of the door. I didn’t bother to guess what expression the young man behind me had. Although it was about inheritance, it was still better to make the consequences clear.

I thought that this would be the end of the matter, but I didn’t expect that this young man would have more backbone than I thought. Later, he was involved in some things, but that was in the future, and at that time, it was impossible to guess.

The things left behind from the ghost market, coupled with the journey, delayed me for five days, so it was already a week later when I left the small town in the north and arrived home.

I didn’t go back to my own home, but went straight to my parents’ home.

I was relieved to see how well they were doing in their old age. My parents had their own source of income, so they were relatively well off in their old age.

In addition, although I was away for many years, my two sisters and my nephew often came to keep my parents company, so they were not lonely.

“Sanwa, stop messing around. Let me do it.” In the kitchen, I insisted on cooking a meal for my parents, but my mother insisted on sending me out.

My father also chimed in: “Sanwa, come out. Your mother is getting lazier and lazier. When you’re not home, she’s busy all day long participating in activities for the elderly. She doesn’t even cook for me properly. Now that you’re back, it’s her turn to be diligent.”

In this way, I was driven out of the kitchen by my parents, and sat quietly on the sofa in the living room opposite my father, but for a while I had nothing to say.

In fact, I was worried. After all, I had been living in a small town in the north for a year, almost completely cut off from the outside world. My parents knew about it, and I didn’t hide it from them. I couldn’t help but be worried.

This kind of behavior has never happened in my life. Looking back, I know that this is probably the greatest unfilial behavior, but since I returned, my parents have hardly asked a word.

They don’t mention it, and I don’t dare to say it, so I can only sit in the living room in silence with my father.

My mother is very quick and her health is good, so she quickly prepared a table full of food and then invited my father and me to sit down and eat.

On the table, there were almost all the dishes I liked. Dad picked up the bottle of wine and poured himself a glass, and then poured one for me, saying in a very insistent tone, “Have a drink with me.”

So I drank with my father, but we were still very quiet, except for my mother who kept on giving me more food to eat.

I found that the older I got, the less I would say things that would make my parents happy. For example, I would tell my mother that even if I ate all the delicacies in the world, they would not be as good as the dishes she made.

In fact, I think the same way in my heart.

After three rounds of wine, my father started talking more, but it was all nonsense about the world and nothing about the year when I had almost no news, and he didn’t scold me, and he almost didn’t even turn on his phone.

I was nervous and listened obediently. I wanted to spend more time with them, but at the moment I was afraid to be with them. I didn’t understand what kind of cowardice it was.

“Pop” suddenly put down his wine glass, looked at me very seriously, and said, “Sanwa, do you think your mother and I really want a grandson, right?”

I froze for a moment. What did he mean?

“Hey, old man, Sanwa just got back. Didn’t we agree not to scold him or bother him? Are you drunk and starting again?” My mother threw down her chopsticks, acting even worse than my father.

You promised not to scold me or bother me? I was holding my wine glass, suddenly feeling a pain in my heart. Dad, Mom!

But my father said, “No, I have to say it. I just want to tell my son today that the fact that we both want to have a grandchild is not the key to the problem! The key to the problem is that we are both afraid that when we are gone, Sanwa will grow old and die alone, without a companion by his side! If that happens, we will never be able to close our eyes in peace.”

I gulped down the wine in my glass and coughed repeatedly. Listening to my father, I wanted to cry, but I had already grown up. How could a man cry? I would rather pretend to be coughing up tears.

My mother hurried over and patted my back, saying softly, “Sanwa, what your father said is true. Even if you are eighty years old, you are still our son. As long as we are alive, we will worry about you every day. If Xue leaves, you will be sad, and your old man and I will be sad together. We are sad no less than you! Originally, we all accepted our fate. If you don’t get married, when you get old, it would be good to have a companion to support each other. Hey… how can you explain things in this world? We are afraid that you will not be able to accept it.”

I didn’t answer, covering my mouth and pretending to still be coughing. My eyes were red, and I couldn’t breathe because of the coughing, so tears ran down the back of my hand.