Chapter 152: Why Is There a Missing Family Member?

Seeing the figure, puffing with anger, stomping away while still glaring back at him with a vicious look, Li Xian was stunned for a moment... and then burst out laughing.

He laughed so hard that he doubled over, and even his stomach began to ache, forcing him to squat down on the ground.

This left the nearby Uncle Chen completely puzzled—what was going on? Why did he suddenly go crazy while walking?

"Second Brother, did you bump into something?! Please, don't scare me, old man!"

Looking around at the surroundings and recalling the girl mentioning nearby graves, Carpenter Chen shivered—could it be that they had encountered something supernatural? But it was broad daylight!

Seeing Uncle Chen's face full of fear, Li Xian, who was squatting on the ground with tears of laughter, quickly waved his hand to signal that he was fine. He then covered his stomach and stood up.

In his ears, the words that Zhu Juan used to coax him as a child still echoed:

"Xian Xian, let me tell you, your aunt wasn't always this big and rough like a country bumpkin. That's all because of your uncle. When I was young, I was the prettiest girl around! I might not have been a noblewoman, but I was definitely a delicate beauty. That skit where Song Dandan said Old Wu from next door would tremble just by looking at her—I spit on that! That's just a comedy sketch. But back when I was young... Oh my, don't even mention it! In the nearby villages, who could compare to me? Nobody, I tell you! Everyone admired me so much they couldn't take a step without looking."

Thinking of this, and then comparing it to the freckled face he just saw, with eyes smaller than mouse droppings, a garlic-shaped nose, and those two dusty, rough braids, Li Xian couldn't hold back.

If he could time-travel back, even without the foresight and brilliance of this life, just to debunk Zhu Juan's lies, he would do it!

Auntie, what kind of life experiences led you to have such grand delusions about your youth, and to hold on to them for so many years?

He couldn't help it; just thinking about this brought tears to Li Xian's eyes again.

"Pfft... hahahaha..."

He stood up from the ground, tried to suppress his laughter, and waved at Uncle Chen, "Pfft... Uncle Chen, you go ahead; I have something to take care of."

Leaving behind a completely bewildered Uncle Chen, and still trying to hold back his laughter, Li Xian followed along.

...

Zhumaotun and Bangye County are actually right next to each other.

This village's existence dates back to the Great Famine during the "Crossing the Northeast" migration.

At that time, so many people were fleeing from the famine in the Central Plains that some didn't make it to their destination before being robbed by bandits or harassed by local bullies along the way.

Moreover, many people had heard that there was land in the Northeast where they could survive, but they didn't have any relatives to rely on. Many who ended up with nothing, or who had lost their families on the way, formed begging groups.

These people begged wherever they went, like locusts. The government at the time knew that these refugees could easily cause trouble, so they allocated funds for relief. But local officials were corrupt and pocketed the funds, leaving nothing for relief.

The county magistrate of Bangye was a bit better.

To prevent the refugees from entering the city, the magistrate set up fences outside the city walls and provided two meals a day of "standing chopsticks," which was actually just rice soup, and meat soup that was really just pig skin with bristles.

Although this couldn't fill anyone's stomach, it was better than other counties that gave nothing at all, allowing people to survive a few more days. As a result, some refugees built shacks outside the city and settled down.

Later, although most people died of hunger or cold, a few managed to survive the winter by hunting and farming in the spring and summer, as resilient as cockroaches!

Because refugees always spat out pig bristles when drinking the relief soup, people began calling this place "Zhumaotun" (Pig Bristle Village).

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the old city walls of Bangye were torn down, and Zhumaotun became connected with the county town, making it hard to distinguish between the two.

Li Xian often wandered around here during his summer vacations, so he was quite familiar with the terrain. However, compared to back then, many earthen houses still existed, but the roads were very different.

After following Zhu Juan from a distance for quite a while, passing through several areas of earthen houses that he had no memory of, Li Xian finally saw an open area.

In front of him was a small school.

Behind the school, a row of neatly arranged two-story houses stood in a line.

This was his grandfather's home!

For the current year, 1993, it might be more accurate to call it his grandfather's new home. According to later recollections by his grandmother Yang Shuzhen, it was this year that his uncle had just been released from prison, and the family had moved from Hailin to Bangye.

As Li Xian reminisced about the past, he unconsciously walked up to the row of two-story houses that looked almost identical to his childhood memories.

My God,

So, this toilet has been here since back then! No wonder it felt so creepy as a kid; this is a building over thirty years old!

Hey!

So the school looked like this back then? Thirty years ago, it was a football field, not a basketball court.

Feeling like he had stepped into the Grand View Garden, Li Xian entered "Spot the Difference" mode, finding everything fascinating. Comparing the current scene with his childhood memories added a unique sense of fun.

Just as he was looking around, finding everything interesting, a familiar voice caught his full attention.

It was the sound of a gate he knew all too well.

The gate was open, and inside, the family was busy organizing the yard full of belongings.

Clearly, Li Xian's unintentional detour to find the brick kiln had led him to witness an incredibly important historical event—today was the first day his grandfather's family moved to Bangye!

In the yard, Old Zhu, who would later suffer a stroke and be left half-paralyzed, was moving large items into the house. Meanwhile, in the yard, one man and two women were busy with other tasks.

As they worked, the family commented on their new home.

"Dad, isn't this threshold a bit too high?" asked Zhu Feng, the eldest son.

Old Zhu, with a stern face, carefully carried a black-and-white TV into the house while grumbling, "Too high? What, does it get stuck in your crotch when you walk?"

"..."

Just after placing some firewood on the ground, Zhu Juan glanced at the courtyard wall and shook her big braid, "Dad, isn't our courtyard wall a bit too low? Look, the one next door is at least 1.7 meters tall, but ours looks like it barely reaches 1.5 meters."

Old Zhu, now inside the house, snorted, "Too low, huh? The Himalayas are 8,848 meters tall; I'll move them here to be your courtyard wall tomorrow."

"..." Zhu Juan's next words were choked back.

At this moment, there were a few crackling sounds in the yard.

It was Li Xian's grandmother, Yang Shuzhen, lighting firecrackers to ward off bad luck. The sound was a bit muffled, as if the firecrackers had gotten damp.

"Old Zhu, these firecrackers aren't loud! We should light another string later."

"Enough already! Atomic bombs are loud, I'll get you two to light tomorrow."

"..." Yang Shuzhen, frustrated, threw the matches on the ground and turned to go inside.

Watching such a lively scene, Li Xian couldn't hold back his tears.

It was so wonderful to meet them. To meet them all happy, not yet turned gloomy by that accident, and still together!

My nitpicky grandfather, my all-powerful uncle, my narcissistic aunt, my beloved grandmother, my...

Hey?

Where's my mom?!

Li Xian wiped his tears and counted the people in the yard, stunned.

Something's not right!

Old Zhu, your family is missing a member!