So my grandfather told her the whole story, and she was also very surprised. After all, having lived with Drunken Liu for so long, she knew a thing or two about such matters.

  "My grandfather sighed and said, This time its really strange, big brother hasnt woken up yet. Im afraid tonight......, sister-in-law, you say something, oh dear, what a disaster. After finishing speaking, he lowered his head and rubbed his hands vigorously."

  Lius wife knew the severity of the situation, she thought for a moment and said "Ive got an idea!" Then she stood up and said to my grandfather: "Dont be afraid, Im here. That dead drunk doesnt know when hell sober up, didnt you come by carriage? Take him to your Zhujiakan place. Isnt that settled?"

  My grandfather hastily waved his hand and said: "It cant be done, its freezing cold outside, dont let my brother catch a chill!"

  Lius wife smiled as soon as she heard it. She said while taking out Mr. Lius cotton-padded jacket, "Dont worry, listen to me, I know him well. Which time did he not sleep outside after drinking too much? He wont freeze to death." Although she said so, my grandfather saw her take out a few more pieces of warm clothing and then brought out the bedding, knowing that his sister-in-law had a kind heart and couldnt bear to see me and my wife suffer. At this moment, he was filled with gratitude and couldnt express it in words. He immediately knelt down to Lius wife. Seeing this, Lius wife quickly helped him up and said, "Xiao Cui, what are you doing? Dont do this, or else Ill get angry."

  My grandfather stood up, wiped away his tears and said to Lius wife: "Sister-in-law, thank you. I wont say anything else..."

  Two people came to the back house and saw Mr. Liu still sleeping on the kang, snoring loudly. Seeing this scene, Mrs. Liu turned around and said to my grandfather, "Look at your big brother. Hes still sleeping like a dead pig, and he deserves to be frozen!" After finishing speaking, she helped my grandfather put clothes on Mr. Liu. After everything was ready, she asked my grandfather to spread the quilt in the donkey cart first, then wrapped Mr. Liu in three layers inside and out, and placed him in the cart. She went back into the house to tidy up a bit, then put a trunk containing Mr. Lius household items on the cart. Before leaving, she reminded my grandfather to be careful and saw him off. It wasnt until many years later that my grandfather told me about this incident, and he was still grateful for it. He said that people should have kind hearts like Mr. Liu and his wife.

  Last time, my grandmother was anxiously waiting for my grandfathers return at home. As the sky was about to darken, there was still no sign of my grandfather. Just thinking that those things might come again tonight made my grandmother so scared. But she didnt dare go out of the house door. According to what older people used to say, if you encounter something unclean, the best choice is to stay at home, because your luck is low during this period, and going out will easily make you stick with something again.

  She waited and waited, and eventually fell asleep on the kang. In her dream, she saw the old lady in mourning clothes with a white hat again, sitting at the head of the kang, staring at her coldly. My grandmother wanted to call out but couldnt make a sound. The old lady spoke to my grandmother in a sinister tone, "Dont think you can find anyone, Im not afraid of you. My grandsons revenge must be avenged." After finishing speaking, she got down from the kang and slipped out through the window.

  My grandmother was frightened awake, finding herself covered in cold sweat. Just as she was still in a state of shock, the sound of a donkey cart and my grandfathers shouting came from outside: "Wife, come out quickly to help!" Hearing that my grandfather had returned, my grandmother immediately regained her composure. She quickly put on her cotton-padded jacket and went outside, where she saw my grandfather and Mr. Liu, who was still drunk and hadnt woken up yet.

  My grandmother hurriedly went forward to help my grandfather carry Drunken Liu into the house and settled him on the kang. Then she went out again to tidy up the things on the donkey cart, and after everything was in order, she sent the donkey cart back to Old Baos place. On her way back, she kept feeling that someone was following behind her, but when she turned around, there was no one there. Id like to say here that maybe everyone has had a similar experience - when youre out and about, you always feel like someone is following behind you, but when you turn around, you dont find anything unusual. To be honest, this feeling really is annoying. My grandmother ran all the way back home, and by the time she arrived, she was panting heavily.

  My grandmother sat on the kang and looked at my grandfather covering Mr. Liu with a quilt, then she also thought that Mr. Liu was quite something, he could sleep so soundly in the cold weather on the donkey cart, his face flushed red. My grandmother asked my grandfather what happened to Mr. Liu, my grandfather told her that he had drunk too much and hadnt woken up yet, so his wife asked me to bring him back.

  My grandmother suddenly thought of something and told my grandfather about the dream she had just now. My grandfather listened and said, "Could it be that blind boy? Whats going to happen?" Both of them were at a loss. Fortunately, they have called back the sensible person now, and Im not as scared as before. My grandfather asked my grandmother to take out two kilograms of white flour prepared for Chinese New Year, steam some flower rolls, and wait for Mr. Liu to wake up to eat. He also went to the warehouse to get some pickled vegetables and frozen meat, and the two of them started busy. The meal was ready, but drunkard Liu still showed no signs of waking up. My grandfather hadnt eaten since morning, so my grandmother had to reheat some corn rice, and they ate hastily. Its getting dark now.

  As soon as it got dark, the two peoples hearts were lifted again. They didnt know if those things would come tonight, but they hoped not to. However, some things often go against ones wishes. You want them not to come, but they insist on haunting you. At around 1 or 2 oclock in the middle of the night, the sobbing sounds came from the courtyard again.

  After hearing the crying, my grandfather and grandmother seemed to have a surge of energy in their hearts. This is what they said. Its like their brains became very messy, very annoying, very oppressive, just wanting to take a knife to stab their own heads to vent. Just as my grandmother was dazedly picking up scissors from the resistance, Mr. Liu, who was sleeping soundly, turned over in his bed. He shouted loudly, as if talking nonsense: "Whats all the fuss about? Cant you see Im sleeping?! Get out!!"

  My grandfather and grandmother suddenly woke up, you cant say that this snore was really useful, the crying outside stopped immediately. Grandma quickly threw away the scissors, her heart full of fear. At this time, Mr. Liu was still lying in bed, muttering to himself in a sleepy tone: "Damn it, Im going to make it call out, stick it upside down on the north window. Ill let it cry, and clean it up tomorrow." After finishing speaking, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from under the quilt and fell asleep again.

  My grandfather took it from his hand and looked at it, it was a Fu character that was posted during the Chinese New Year. My grandfather immediately followed suit and pasted that Fu character on the north window. After pasting it, indeed nothing happened for the whole night.

  The Fu character mentioned here, why did Mr. Liu want to stick the Fu character on the north window? When I was young, I didnt understand it either. It wasnt until I grew up and accidentally remembered the details of this story told by my grandfather that I looked it up and found out that according to "Dreams of Splendor", "All households, regardless of size, sweep and clean their doors, remove dust and dirt, clean the courtyard, change the door gods, hang couplets, nail peach symbols, paste spring couplets, and worship ancestors." The "paste spring couplets" in the text refers to the "Fu" character written on red paper.

  The word "now" is interpreted as, and in the past it referred to. And this blessing character, also has a homophonic relationship with the "Fu" character of subjugation, which roughly summarizes the meaning of subduing filth. Of course, this is just my own speculation, because many of the folk skills of the past have long since been lost and can no longer be sought out for explanation.

  The next day, just before dawn, Mr. Liu finally woke up.

  My grandmother hastily gave him water to wash his face, hot dishes and hot rice. Mr. Liu put on his clothes, got down from the kang and wore his cotton shoes, then bowed to my grandfather with a smile and said: "Younger brother, Im really ashamed to let you see me in such a drunken state, thank you for taking care of me." My grandfather quickly said: "Brother Liu, dont say that, its already making me feel embarrassed enough. Look, before you even woke up, weve already brought you to our home."

  Mr. Liu sat back on the kang, laughing and saying: "It doesnt matter, I actually heard everything, my wife Fenlian is a good person. The reason I married her was because she has a kind heart. Dont blame your brother, at that time I really didnt have the energy to wake up."

  At this time, the meal was ready. My grandmother put a small table on the kang and arranged a plate of flower rolls, a bowl of sauerkraut stewed pork, and a bottle of high-gluten wine sitting in a large bowl filled with hot water to warm it up. After she had everything set out, those two had already started eating and drinking, and my grandmother also sat cross-legged on the kang. Just then Mr. Liu was explaining why he got drunk like this.

  Mr. Liu was helping someone choose a burial site that day, and after finishing the task, the family invited Mr. Liu to drink wine. After drinking half a kilogram of wine, Mr. Liu saw that it was getting late and bid farewell. On his way home, he ran into Old Wang, an acquaintance from before. However, this Old Wang had already died two years ago. Fortunately, Mr. Liu was in the business, so he was very curious. He wondered why Old Wang, who should have been reincarnated, appeared, and went forward to ask him. It turned out that Old Wang had done many good deeds during his lifetime, and after death, he became a ghostly official in the underworld, assisting Ox-Head and Horse-Face, as well as Black and White Impermanence, in hooking peoples souls. Because there was a funeral procession in the village today, he followed along and took advantage of the opportunity to ask for half a day off from Horse-Face, wanting to come back and take a look at his son and grandson. It was already rare to encounter a ghostly official who hooks souls, and today he ran into an old acquaintance.

  According to the rules of fate, those who eat yin meals have revealed too many heavenly secrets and are destined to suffer from five flaws and three deficiencies. The so-called five flaws refer to "widowhood, childlessness, loneliness, solitude, and disability." As for the three deficiencies, they simply mean "wealth, life, and power". Mr. Liu knew that he was suffering from a deficiency in his life, but he did not know when he would meet his demise. In this world, only those who truly mastered the Qimen technique and divination methods of the "Three Pure Ones" could use certain arrays to understand their heavenly fate. Mr. Liu had only studied the family-transmitted "Three Pure Divination" and some occasional symbol techniques. He feared that if something happened suddenly, he and his family would be unprepared, so he thought of asking the yin messenger about his lifespan.