Chapter 23: A Change in One Person
Chapter 23: A Change in One Person
That night, all the neighbors heard the miserable wails and angry shouts constantly coming from Liu Jinming’s house.
By the time the sky grew light, Hu Ling, her face bruised and swollen, hobbled out of her home carrying a small cloth bundle patterned with flowers. Under the curious and consoling gazes of the surrounding neighbors, she walked out of the alley, weeping as she went—it was clearly the start of a trip back to her parents’ home.
The neighbors talked among themselves:
“Who knows what madness struck Hu Ling last night, she even dared to quarrel and make a scene with Liu Jinming.”
“Ah, the old lady got a serious illness. The family’s money will probably all go into that. They hadn’t even saved enough to renovate their house yet. Now, just look…”
“Yeah, anyone would find it hard to bear.”
“Something feels off to me. They suddenly caused such a ruckus in the middle of the night. Didn’t you hear Hu Ling shouting things about committing sins, being haunted, or inviting ghosts into the house? I think, maybe it really was the trouble from that earthen jar the old lady messed with. Otherwise, how would Hu Ling have dared to make such a scene with Liu Jinming?”
“It really could be…”
“Such an age, and still making a fuss about going back to her parents’ home, sigh.”
“What parents’ home? Hu Ling lost her father and mother long ago. Would she go to her brother’s house, then?”
“Then she’s going to her daughter’s home…”
…
Amid the discussion, the neighbors couldn’t help but cast their eyes toward the couple, Chen Xiulan and Su Cheng.
The good-natured Chen Xiulan looked deeply embarrassed, as if she had done something shameful, and hurriedly turned to go back inside her home.
Su Cheng also knew about the rumors circulating in the village these past two days. Although he didn’t believe in all those ghosts and demons, the rumors were now tied to his own family. Besides, their two families usually got along quite well. So, he felt rather sympathetic toward Liu Jinming’s family’s plight. Hearing the neighbors’ talk again mention the curse related to the earthen jar, he couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed. But he couldn’t very well argue with the neighbors about it, so he just sighed and turned to walk home.
At this time, Su Chunfeng was jogging and exercising on a small path in the fields outside the village.
Of course, he had heard the fight between Liu Jinming and his wife last night, and he had even caught some of their arguing words, which allowed him to guess the reason behind it.
Only, this had nothing to do with any Esoteric Technique.
It was merely human nature.
As the one who performed the Art Casting behind the scenes, Su Chunfeng never imagined that a small act of Art Casting would lead Liu Jinming’s family into such a terrible state—he had originally thought that the old lady, under the severe Backlash of fierce malefic energy, wouldn’t make it through. Unexpectedly, she survived, hardened and cunning with age.
If that old lady had died, Su Chunfeng wouldn’t have felt the slightest sympathy.
But the old lady didn’t die, and the Liu family’s life fell into hardship. Being inherently kind-hearted, Su Chunfeng couldn’t help but feel a little self-reproach.
When it came down to it, there wasn’t much enmity between the two families.
It was over the top, sigh.
Indeed, the will of heaven was hard to predict…
During breakfast, Su Cheng asked with a calm expression, “Little Feng, is there any truth to those rumors going around the village?”
Su Chunfeng hunched his shoulders and forced an awkward smile. “Which ones?”
“The things you said when you went to Liu Jinming’s house!” Su Cheng’s tone grew serious.
“Well, that did happen.” Su Chunfeng adopted a fearful expression and said timidly, “Dad, that day when I saw the old lady giving me a strange look, didn’t I tell you about it when I got back? And then I happened to see that earthen jar placed on the corner of their roof, its opening pointing toward our house… At school, when our teacher talked about rural superstitions, he mentioned this kind of Folk Sorcery. So I thought, since the two families used to have a good relationship, I didn’t discuss it with you. I figured it was a small matter, and I didn’t want it to cause any big conflict. That’s why I went to talk to Uncle Jinming myself. Even though we don’t believe in this stuff, it’s still pretty nasty to see, right?”
Chen Xiulan sighed and said, “You’re so young, how can you believe in all this messy nonsense, and even go to someone’s house to talk about it? There was nothing to it before, but now it seems like we’re the ones who harmed them.”
Su Cheng glared at his eldest son and scolded, “Be more careful from now on, don’t mess around! Do you hear me?”
“I hear you,” Su Chunfeng said, pouting and lowering his head to munch on his steamed bun.
“Be more careful from now on!” Su Chunyu gleefully imitated his father’s tone to lecture his older brother.
Su Chunfeng shot him a glare.
Su Cheng even brought his chopsticks down on the younger boy’s head. “You little rascal, learn more from your brother from now on. Think before you act, don’t just live carelessly all day!”
Su Chunyu quickly lowered his head obediently and focused on his meal.
The table fell silent.
Su Cheng’s earlier words, scolding his younger son while praising his elder one, were indeed heartfelt. His wife Chen Xiulan felt the same way—even though Su Chunfeng’s taking matters into his own hands had stirred up these vague and baseless rumors, as adults they had to admit the boy’s intentions were correct. It was a very mature way of handling things, because he considered the relationship between the two families and hoped to minimize the possibility of conflict…
It was just a pity he was too young.
If Su Cheng had gone to talk to Liu Jinming about those things back then, even if the Liu family’s old lady was unreasonable, Liu Jinming, out of face-saving and considering their families’ relationship, would have taken down that broken earthen jar. If that had happened, would any of these later events have happened?
Though, when you thought about it, this affair was indeed strange.
Both Su Cheng and Chen Xiulan had seen with their own eyes the unusual way the mouth of that earthen jar had cracked. Could there really be some mysterious Folk Sorcery at work here?
Right after breakfast, Liu Jinming’s voice sounded from the yard. “Chengzi, are you home?”
“Yes, I am!” Su Cheng answered in surprise, standing up and walking out. “Brother Jinming, you’re here. Come inside… How is my aunty’s health?”
“Ah, she’s paralyzed,” Liu Jinming said with a long sigh.
As they spoke, Liu Jinming and Su Cheng entered the house together.
“Brother Jinming,” Chen Xiulan greeted politely, then gathered the bowls and chopsticks from the table and carried them out.
“Little Feng, take Little Yu back to the room to do homework,” Su Cheng instructed.
“Okay,” Su Chunfeng said, pulling Xiao Yu up and heading toward the west bedroom. He politely called out to Liu Jinming, “Uncle Jinming,” while inwardly wondering: What was Liu Jinming doing here at their home? Actually, it wasn’t hard to guess. Borrowing money… But with a person like him, you absolutely must not lend him money!
Liu Jinming nodded and sat down, looking meaningfully at the polite and sensible Su Chunfeng—he remembered that evening, this child had been very polite too, not saying a single harsh word.
“Brother Jinming, try to ease your mind…” Su Cheng took out a cigarette and offered him one.
“Mmm,” Liu Jinming took the cigarette, lit it, and took a hard drag.
“Is it that the money isn’t enough?” Su Cheng had also guessed the purpose of Liu Jinming’s visit. Although he genuinely did not trust Liu Jinming’s character and was reluctant to lend him money, they were neighbors who usually got along well. Seeing his family in such difficulty, Su Cheng couldn’t harden his heart to just stand by. So he earnestly offered, “Just tell me how much you’re short… But to be honest, I really can’t come up with a lot, since I just repaid a loan and money’s tight. But a few hundred, maybe up to a thousand, that’s no problem!”
A few hundred to a thousand yuan was absolutely not a small amount in those days!
Liu Jinming was stunned. A look of guilt flashed in his eyes. He shook his head and said, “The money’s all gathered. I didn’t come to borrow…”
“Then?” Su Cheng asked, puzzled.
“Since my mother got sick and was hospitalized, there have been many rumors in the village,” Liu Jinming took a deep drag of his cigarette. “This matter… regardless of whether it has anything to do with that broken earthen jar Folk Sorcery or not, thinking about it now, my mother was in the wrong. Last time, because of the fund-raising for the Guandi Temple repair, she quarreled with your wife. I’m here to apologize on her behalf, to you and to your wife… You know her temper. As her son, it’s hard for me to say anything about her, sigh.”
This attitude completely took Su Cheng by surprise.
Even Su Chunfeng, who was eavesdropping intently from the bedroom, was greatly astonished—for a person of Liu Jinming’s character to say such things?
It was even more mysterious and bizarre than Folk Sorcery!
Su Cheng quickly said, “Brother Jinming, saying such things makes you sound like a stranger… How could I hold a grudge against Aunty over something like that?”
“I know, older brother, the money you earn isn’t easy. It’s all hard-earned,” Liu Jinming said as he stood up. He exhaled smoke and sighed. “Those village rumors are all because your sister-in-law didn’t know better and blabbered nonsense outside. Don’t take it to heart. Alright, I don’t have much else to say. I’ll be going.”
“Come now,” Su Cheng stood up. “Stay a while longer.”
“No, I need to get to the hospital…”
“Then wait just a moment, let me get you some money for emergencies,” Su Cheng said, turning to head toward the inner room.
“No, no, don’t bother!” Liu Jinming strode out.
Seeing this, Su Cheng didn’t go to get the money and quickly followed to see him out. “Brother Jinming, remember to come to your brother here if you need money.”
“Alright, alright, no need to see me out, stay home,” Liu Jinming said repeatedly.
After seeing Liu Jinming off, Su Cheng and Chen Xiulan stood under the shade of a tree in the yard, looking at each other—how had Liu Jinming suddenly changed his nature?
How could they know that after Liu Jinming fought and quarreled with his wife last night, he, like all the other neighbors, was baffled as to why his wife dared to throw such a tantrum in front of him. She even shouted things about committing sins, about bringing unclean things into the house…
After his wife left in the morning, Liu Jinming sat alone at home, smoking dejectedly and worrying.
Often, when a person is most pessimistic and under the greatest pressure, they can see things more clearly. In their helplessness, they might even turn to vague, unfounded things for spiritual support. Under immense psychological pressure, Liu Jinming thought things over. He decided that earthen jar was really weird, his mother’s sudden illness was strange, his wife’s newfound boldness to quarrel and fight with him was truly odd, and him being woken by nightmares was also unusual.
He figured his run of bad luck over the years was most likely, as his wife had crazily ranted under her apparent possession, because they had committed too many sins.
So, to comfort the fear and pressure in his heart, Liu Jinming decided, “I can’t commit any more sins. I need to become a good person!”
At the very least…
For a while, he hoped that changing himself could dispel the bad luck and bring himself some good fortune, instead of a continuous streak of misfortune.