Chapter 404 - 137: Beyond the Three Realms and Outside the Five Elements
Scenes flashed by.
The last scene was when I was going to college that year. The old man accompanied the old lady and sent me to the train station. Standing on the platform, the old man reminded me and glared at me, warning me not to cause trouble outside, or else he’d break my legs...
Lying there until the village’s roosters crowed.
Chen Yan tiptoed out of bed, went to the kitchen to boil water, and cooked some noodles.
Turning his head, he saw Lu Sisi standing at the kitchen door in her pajamas.
"Awake?"
"Yeah." Lu Sisi walked over, gently hugged Chen Yan: "You go wash up, I’ll take care of it."
"Alright." Chen Yan didn’t stand on ceremony with Lu Sisi, turned around and left the kitchen, then washed up quickly with cold water.
When he returned, Lu Sisi already had two bowls of noodles on the table.
Unfortunately, there were no eggs left at home, so the noodles were simply boiled and fished out with a dash of soy sauce.
Chen Yan hugged the bowl, quickly slurping it down, then patted his belly: "I’m going to check on the old man, don’t rush, stay home after washing up..."
Pausing, he whispered: "If anything happens, I’ll call you."
"...Alright."
·
Chen Yan went to the old man’s house, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw the old man’s two children anxiously discussing something. As soon as they saw Chen Yan coming, Aunt Zhao quickly came over: "Xiaoyan! We were just about to find you... my dad he..."
"The old man said last night not to take him to the hospital anymore. If he falls into a coma again after sleeping at night, just wait for you to come in the morning; you’ll know what to do." The speaker was the old man’s second son, whom Chen Yan always called "Uncle Zhao."
Chen Yan nodded and walked inside, entering the old man’s sleeping room.
The old man lay on the bed, indeed once again in a coma, but his breathing was still relatively stable, just sounded weak.
Following yesterday’s method, Chen Yan fed the old man another "Qingming Pill."
A moment later, the old man’s children saw Chen Yan walking out with the old man, looking spirited, and were dumbfounded!
"What are you staring at? Didn’t I tell you last night, Chen Yan learned the true skills from the old lady! He can wake me from a coma." The old man waved his hand.
Aunt Zhao and Uncle Zhao looked at each other—one is a schoolteacher, the other a government officer, truthfully, neither wanted to believe such bizarre things.
As for Chen Yan’s old lady, she was once the most famous Divine Woman around for ten miles—they both knew—but honestly never believed in these things.
Yet... the reality in front of them...
The old man directly went to wash up, ate a couple of bites of breakfast, looked at the three people at home, and pointed at Chen Yan: "You, come with me."
"Ah?" The old man’s two children were stunned.
"Dad, where are you taking Chen Yan?"
"Don’t worry, I’m just going out for something, don’t follow me."
The old man looked at his son and slowly said: "Wait till I get back, the old man has something to say to you, understand?"
Although anxious, the old man is normally very authoritative. The two followed him to the door but were finally glared back by the old man, not daring to follow.
·
Chen Yan followed the old man toward the direction of the back mountain, passing through the village fields, and the old man stopped in his tracks.
By late March, some places had already started planting early rice.
Chen Yan followed the old man along the path beside the fields, but the old man stopped, looking at a plot of land in front, staring silently.
This was the old man’s own land, and he watched it for a while, seeming a bit dazed, turned back to look at Chen Yan, and softly asked: "Can I smoke now?"
"Yeah, you can." Chen Yan actually didn’t know if he could smoke, but Lin Qingquan said that after taking the Qingming Pill, during the effective period, he was no different from a normal person—it should be okay to smoke.
After all...
At this point, why go against the old man’s wishes? If he wants to smoke, let him smoke.
The old man felt his pocket, took out a pack of Huazi, lit one, and took a pleasant puff.
"These cigarettes were what you gave me for the New Year." The old man looked at Chen Yan: "Had I known time was short, I wouldn’t have saved them; there’s still a pack left in the drawer at home."
Chen Yan said nothing, just quietly watched the old man.
"This field, I planted winter wheat last year, and the sowing in October exhausted me!" The old man pointed to his own field and shook his head: "In the future, I’m afraid my son won’t tend to it. Now both are living in the county, they won’t come back to farm."
"Yeah." Chen Yan nodded: "Don’t worry, if they don’t farm, someone else will. Good farmland won’t be left to waste."
"You’re right." The old man smiled: "I’m just being sentimental."
He looked at Chen Yan: "You remembered what I said during New Year’s, and I’m very pleased—you brought your girlfriend back for me to see, so I can be at peace near the end of my life. After your grandma passed away, I’ve always been quite worried about you.
Ah, I watched you grow up, you ate at my house, took my scoldings, you’re no different from my own children.
Kid, I’ll be going.
Once I’m gone, there won’t even be an elder in your family to support you..."
"Grandpa, if I’m capable enough, I won’t need anyone’s help! If I’m not, no one’s support would be enough either."
The old man nodded, satisfied with a smile: "Yes, you’re capable, saying this puts me at ease."
The old man pointed to the distant back mountain: "People from this area will all be buried up in the mountains after death, and it’ll be the same for me.
In the future, when you come back to pay respects and burn paper, remember to visit my grave, to bow to me, and if you’re married, bring Lu Sisi along to call me grandpa at the grave. Remember that!"