Chapter 016 Has Been Waiting for Me

As soon as I ran into the courtyard, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Grandma!! Grandma, come out quickly!!!" Maybe my cry was too shrill, for both my grandma and grandpa came out. When Grandma saw my appearance, she was startled. She exclaimed and rushed towards me, "Oh my goodness! Jiaolong! What's wrong with you? Where did you fall? Why are you covered in dirt all over your body?!" I held the ginseng in my hand and looked at Grandma, sobbing for breath. Before I could say anything, Grandpa caught sight of the ginseng in my hand at a glance. "Jiaolong, where did you get this ginseng?" As he said this, he was about to reach out and take it. I let out a scream and shouted, "Don't touch him! He's Shengzi! He's Shengzi!!" Grandma was also stunned and looked at me. "What's going on here, Jiaolong? Did you go up the mountain?" "Goodness, I think this ginseng has been around for ages. I've only seen it when I was a child, and that one was even smaller than this. This one must have become a spirit!" Grandpa stopped reaching out to take the ginseng when he saw me hugging it to my chest. Instead, he just stared at it and mumbled to himself. Grandma's expression became somewhat serious. She glanced at me. "Jiaolong, let Grandma have a look at it." I sniffled and looked at Grandma, then carefully handed the ginseng to her. "Grandma, he's Shengzi." Grandma held the ginseng in front of her eyes and examined it carefully. "It's definitely a ginseng spirit. Jiaolong, tell Grandma properly. What exactly happened? How could you come across this thing? Even if you saw it, you shouldn't have known it was ginseng." "The day Aunt Fengxia wanted Daya to die, it was him who saved me. I didn't know it was ginseng. I just knew he was a good-looking child named Shengzi. He always played with me. Once when I saw a snake on the mountain, it was also him who saved me. Grandma, he's my good friend. But as soon as San Quezi shouted 'ginseng', he stopped moving, and then when we dug him out, he was like this. San Quezi wants to sell him. Grandma, don't let San Quezi sell him!!" I wasn't sure if I had expressed myself clearly. Anyway, I said everything I wanted to say. I was crying and talking at the same time, and I even forgot that my stomach was already hurting terribly at that moment. Grandma frowned as she looked at the ginseng in her hand, as if trying to make sense of my words. After a long while, she looked at me again. "You mean when you saw him, he was a child, and it was him who saved you and Daya by the river?" I nodded. "Yes, he said he liked me, and he was willing to play with me. He told me not to tell anyone." Grandma nodded. "I see. Did San Quezi see it too?" I sobbed and nodded. "He also kicked me." As I said this, I lifted up my short-sleeved shirt. "Goodness, look at that dark bruise from the kick! That son of a bitch! How dare he kick my granddaughter! I'll break his legs for sure!!" When Grandpa saw the bruise on my stomach, he immediately flew into a rage. He waved his arms around and was about to grab a hoe to go and deal with San Quezi. Grandma held him back. "Calm down. Something's not right here. If San Quezi saw this ginseng, would he have let Jiaolong bring it back?" As she said this, Grandma looked at me again. "Jiaolong, where is San Quezi? Did he give this to you?" I shook my head. Then I suddenly remembered a more serious matter and said anxiously, "He's still on the mountain. I hit him on the head with a stone. Grandma, go up the mountain and check quickly. I hope I didn't kill him." Unexpectedly, Grandma snorted when she heard my words. "Even the King of Hell doesn't want to take in that scoundrel. He has a long life ahead of him!" As she said this, she directly grabbed my hand and led me towards the house. "Old woman, what do you mean by that!!" Grandpa was confused by Grandma's actions and shouted at her from the courtyard. Grandma turned around and looked at him. "Don't be in a hurry. He'll come over soon!" Actually, I only found out later that ginseng was the same as "bangchui" (ginseng in dialect), and it was a ginseng that had become a spirit. Most adults knew that if you saw a child dressed in red on the mountain, as long as you shouted "bangchui"! The ginseng spirit would be immobilized and then turn back into its original form. At this time, as long as you tied a red string around it, it couldn't run away. If you dug it out, you could sell it for a huge amount of money. As for exactly how much, it was beyond imagination. Knowing all this, I always felt a bit guilty. I thought that if I hadn't let San Quezi dig it out, maybe Shengzi could still be playing with me in the mountains. But Grandma said that San Quezi was greedy for money. If I had stopped him, I might have suffered a great loss. Maybe this outcome wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After I followed Grandma into the house, I kept mumbling about whether Shengzi could turn back into his original appearance. I didn't want him to be like this now. Grandma didn't say anything. She directly made me kneel in front of the tablet of the Family Protector Deity. Then she also found a red string and tied it around the ginseng. After that, she lit some incense, half-closed her eyes, and kept mumbling. After a long while, she opened her eyes and looked at me. "Jiaolong, kowtow." As soon as I kowtowed, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I gritted my teeth and kowtowed three times. Suddenly, I seemed to hear Shengzi's clear laughter in my ears. "Hehe, sister, hehe~~" I immediately looked at Grandma. "Grandma, Shengzi, Shengzi!" Grandma reached out and stroked my head. "It's all right. Grandma has invited Shengzi home for you. He has some spiritual power. You two had a predestined relationship before, so he has always been protecting you. In the future, he will still protect you." "Then can I still play with him?" Grandma smiled and pulled me up. "In the future, if there's anything, he will tell you in your dreams. He will always be by your side." I listened to Grandma's words, not fully understanding. Before I could say anything, Grandma lifted up my clothes and took a look. She frowned, then plucked a small rootlet from the ginseng, bowed to it again, carefully took it to the faucet to rinse it, and handed it to me. "Eat it." "I won't eat it, Grandma. This is Shengzi. I can't eat him!" I said, looking at Grandma in horror.

Grandma shook her head. "This little rootlet doesn't mean much to Shengzi anymore. After Grandma makes offerings to him at home for forty-nine days, he will always be by your side. He saved our family's life. Just eat it." I looked at that thin rootlet and still hesitated. Then Shengzi's voice rang in my ears again. "Sister, just eat it. After you eat it, your stomach will feel better, and we can be together forever in the future." Hearing Shengzi's words, I hesitantly opened my mouth. Grandma directly stuffed the rootlet into my mouth. The rootlet was so thin that I didn't even feel like I was eating anything. But just thinking of Shengzi's appearance made me feel uncomfortable, and tears streamed down my face. "Grandma, I still want to play with him." Grandma let out a sigh and looked at me. "Jiaolong, you're still young. This Shengzi might have been waiting for you here all along. Otherwise, for something like him, how could he be so easily discovered? It's really not easy." Before I could fully understand Grandma's words, I heard San Quezi shouting loudly at my doorstep, "Damn it! You little brat, come out! Where did you take my ginseng!!"